A disquisition about the final causes of natural things; wherein it is inquir'd, whether, and (if at all) with what cautions, a naturalist should admit them?

FINAL

vy

t 688

DISQUISITION

ABOUT THE

ifwtal Caufes

O F

NATVKAL THINGS

Wherein it is Inquir’d,

Whether, And ( if at all ) With what
Cautions, a Naturalift fliould admit Them ?

By the Honourable Robert Boyle, Efq;
To which are Subjoyn’d, by way of

APPENDIX

SOME

Vncommon Observations

ABOUT '

VITIATED SIGHT

By the fame JVT H 0 R. I

LONDON:

Printed by H. C. for 31oI)n at the

Ship in St. Paul's Church-Yard, 1688.

T - 1 in - i»"f J) n m b m uj^inwnwi .gj

THE

THere are not many
Subje&s in the
whole compals of
Natural Philofophy, that
better delerve to be Inqui¬
red into by Chrift :ian Phi-
lolbphizers , than That
which is Dilcours’d of in
the following Eflay. For
Certainly it becomes luch
Men to have Curiofity
enough to Try at leafg
W hether it can be Difco-
ver’d, that there are any
Knowable Final Caufe* , td

A 2 be

' jiM&IL

The Preface.

be Confiderd in the
Works of Nature. Since,
if we neglect this Inquiry,
we live in danger of being
Ungrateful, in Overlook¬
ing thole Ules of Things,
that may give us Juft
Caule of Admiring and
Thanking the Author of
them, and of Lofing the
Benefits , relating as well
to Philolbphy as Piety ,
that the Knowlege of
them may afford us. And
if there be no Inch Things,
we are more than in dan¬
ger to Milpend our Labor
and Induftry, in fruitlefs

Searching

The Preface.

Searching for fuch Things
as are not to be Found.
And anlnquryof this kind
is now the more Seafonable,
becaufe two of the Chief
Se&s of the modern Philo-

i >

fophizers, do both of them,
though upon differing
Grounds, deny that the
Naturalift ought at all to
trouble or bufie himfelf a-
bout Final Caufes. For Epi¬
curus, *and moji of his Fol¬
lowers (for 1 except fome
few late ones, efpecially the
Learned Gajfenaur )B amili

* Hind in his rebus vitum vfoemenier mjw, Ejju-

gtre illorumque Errorem pramsditemust Limina qui fa-
ciunt OcuJorum clau Crjeat^Profpksre ut pofimus —
Lucr* de rtr , nau lib . IV. fefi. 824.

A 3 the

f

* It a deniqtte mtllas unquam rationes circa
res naturales-y a pne^ quem Dens aut Natura
in its faciendis phi propofuit , defame mus ;
qui non t ant am nobis debemus arrogare ut ejus
confiliormn participes ej]e put emus : Cartefius
Trine ip. Philofop. Parte prima Artie . 23.

: ; ■ ; can

I he Preface.

the Confideration of the
Ends of Things ; becaufe
the World being, accord¬
ing to them , made by
Chance, no Ends of any
Thing can be fuppos’d to
have been intended. And
on the contrary, * Monfzeur
Des Cartes , and moft of
his Followers, luppofe all
the Ends of God in Things
Corporeal to be lb Sublime,
that ’twere Prelumption in
Man to think his Reafon

The Preface.

can extend to Difcover
them. So that, according
to thcfe Oppofite Sects, ’tis
either Impertinent for Us
to Seek after Final Caffes,
or Prefamptuous to think
We may Find Them.
WFerefore, I hope I fhall
be Excus’d, if, having been
engag’d by fome Solicita¬
tions, (wherewith ’tis need-

iefs to trouble the Reader,)
I did not Decline to 'Fry,
what, the Bare, but Atten¬
tive, Confideration oi the
Subjed would Suggeft to
My Own Thoughts, And,
tbo ’twas eafie to Forefee,

A a that

- The ^Preface.
by this means my Friend
might mils of receiving
in my Eflay, divers things
that occurr’d not to Me;
yet I confider’d on the other
fide, that iuch things would,

nocwithftanding my Si¬
lence, be found in the Au¬
thors that deliver’d them :
and ’twas very po(fible,that
by the Courfe I took, I
might light upon Ibme
Thoughts, that I fhould
hav e mifs’d,if 1 had prepof
lels’d my Mind with the
Opinions ofOthers ; which
1 was the left Tempted to
do,becau(e an eafie prolpedf

of

7 he Preface.

of my Theme luffic’d to
let me fee, 1 was like to have
the Epicureans and Carte fl¬
ans for my Aderiaries, not
my Affiftants. And for
the School-Philolophers ;
the very Slight Account
that their Mafter Arifotle
gives of One of my r our
Queftions, (for of the reft,
as far as 1 remember. He
lays little or nothing,) gave
me fmall hopes of being
Aided by Them ; elpeci-
aily lince in This, as in
manyOtherQueftions,they
proceed upon Grounds that
1 cannot Alfent to. Ana-

tomifts

E

The ‘Preface.

tomifts indeed, and feme
Phyficians, have done very
laudably upon the LKes of
the Parts of the Human
Body ; which 1 take this
Occafion to Declare, that
it may not be Sulpe&ed,
that 1 do in the leaft Un¬
dervalue their happy Indu-
ftry, becaule 1 Tranlcribe
not Paha ges out of their
Books : The Reafons of
which Omiffion are, not
only, That 1 had not any
one Book ot Anatomy at
hand, when 1 was Writing;
but, That the Ufes of the
Parts of Mans Body rela¬
ted

t

' The Preface.

but to a fmall Part of my
Difcourfe : to make which

moreComprehenfive,l took
in the Confideration of
more General Queftions ,
befidesthat which was con¬
troverted between Arifiotle
and the Ancienter Philofo-
phers, who difputed how
Bodies, that were devoid
of Knowledg, could Ad
for Ends.

Thofe that fvelifh no
Books in Natural Philofo-
phy but fuch as abound in
Experiments, are {eafonably
Advertis’d, that 1 do not
Invite Them to Read this
‘ ’ Trea-

i

The Preface.

ireatife; wherein 1 thought
it much more Suitable to
the Nature of my Subjeft
and Defign, to declare the
Works of God, than of
Men ; and conlequently to
Deliver rather Obfervati-
ons, than Artificial Expe¬
riments. And even of the
Former of thefe, tho’ per¬
haps mod: Readers may
find in the enfuing Dilcourfe
Several that they have not
met with in Claffic Au¬
thors, yet 1 (hall freely ac¬
knowledge, that, upon the
R eview 1 made of what 1
writ, 1 find, tho’ too Late

to

The Freface.

to Repair the Omiffion,
that 1 have left ieveral
Things unmentioned, that
would have been very per¬
tinent to my Subjed ;
which may , 1 hope , be
more eafily Excus’d, be-
caufe, the Body of the fol¬
lowing Dilquilition having
been Written many years
ago, and Thrown by upon
the Death of the * Gentle¬
man that Prefs’d me for it ;
1 could not then take no¬
tice of thofe many Difco-
veries in Anatomy, and o-

* Mr. Henry OMenfargb, Secretary of
the Royal Society.

ther

The Preface.

ther Parts of • Phyfiology,
that have fince been happily
made. But perhaps fome
will think, 1 may have more
need to Excufe the Large-
nels of Some Parts of the
following Treadle , com¬
par’d with the Others. And
1 Ihould rather Grant than
Anlwer the Obje&ion, if 1
could not Alledge, that the
Contagious Boldnels of
lome Baptiz’d Epicurean rj
Engag’d me to dwell much
longer on the Third Pro-
polition of the Fourth Se-
dion, than 1 at firft Inten-

\ if * v

ded. And on the other

4* i ' v

hsndi

/

The Preface.

hand,the Carte fan Opinion
having of late made it Rej
quifite to Handle the for¬
merly Difficult Queftion,
about the Confideration of
Pinal Caufefy after a New
Manner ; 1 thought it Un¬
fit, Lightly to Pals over the
Paradox Maintain’d by fb
Great a Man ; and Judg’d
it Expedient in Some Pla¬
ces (what 1 could not do
without Enlarging) to Pro-
pofe Thoughts ad/ufted to
to the Prelent State of
Things in this Affair : in
the Management of which,
1 have had Co much mote

The Preface.

Regard to feme Other
Things, than to the Sym¬
metry of the Parts whereof
this Trad confifts, that 1
will not lay. That I fear, 1
have in It but Thrown toge¬
ther Materials for a Juft Di-
Icourle on my Subjed ;
fince to Do fo was the Main
Thing 1 Intended. And if
the Materials be Good and
Solid, they will eafily, in fo
Learned an Age as This,
find an Archited, that will
Dilpofe them in a more
Artful Way, than 1 was
either at Leifore or Sollici-
tous to do.

AN

I N Q.U IRING

r •* ' v f \ j* • *■

Whether and How a Natu-
ra lift Jhould Conftder Fi~
nal Caufes.

j *

To my very Learned Friend Mr. jF. O.

> L x . , , . - .j -i .

SIR,

T Hough in a Book or two of
mine, that you have ah
ready been pleas’d to pe-
rufe, there are Ibme palfages, whence
you may eafily enough gather, what

I drought about your Queftions ,

B yee

■ , ‘ .!■ .

yet becaufe the Subjefit is of great
moment, as well as difficulty, and
you may liifpeft I have alter’d my
opinion, I mall, without referring
you to writings, which perhaps
neither you nor I have at hand, let
down fuccinftiy, but yet as if I had
laid nothing of any of them before,
my prelent thoughts about thele
Four Quefticns.

T ' ’“V ^ *■ i % T %

I. Whether, generally or Indefi¬
nitely {peaking, there be any Final
Cauies of things Corporeal, know-
able by Naturalifts ? / y

IT. Whether, if die firft,Queftion
be reiblvM in the Affirmative, we
may confider Final Caufes in all
forts of Bodies, or only in, feme pe¬
culiarly qualified ones ?

III. Whether, or in what fenfe,
the A&ing forEnds may be afcribM
to an Unintelligent, and even Inani¬
mate Body ?

IV. And

IV. And laftly, How far, and
with what Cautions, Arguments
may be fram’d upon the fuppofition
of Final Caules ?

TO begin with the firftQuefti-
on; Thole that would ex¬
clude Final Caules from the confi-
deration of the Naturalift, are wont
to do it ( for ought I have oblerv’d)
upon one of thele two Accounts :
Either , that with Epicurus they
think the world was the Produ&ion
of Atoms and Chance, without any
intervention of a Deity ; and that
confequently ’tis improper and in
Vain to leek for Final Caules in the
effects of Chance : Or, that they

Swith Dec Cartes, that God
an Omnilcient Agent, *tis
tallund prefuroptuous for men to

B 2 think.

( 4 )

think, that they know, or can itf-
veftigate, what Ends he propos’d
tohimfelf in his Aftings about his
Creatures. The Ground on which
the Epicureans have rejefted Final
Caufes, has been dilallow’d by the
Philofophers of almoft all other
Se£ts ; and fbme have written fuffi-
cient Confutations of it y which
therefore I fhall here forbear to in-
lift on ; though fomethings I fhall
upon occafion oblerve, that may
help, if not fuffice, to difcredit fb
unreafbnable an Opinion. But the
Cartefian Argument has been fo pre¬
valent among many Learned and
Ingenious men, that it will be
worth while ( if it be but to excite
better Pens ) to fpend fome time in
the Confideration of it.

Perhaps one thing that alienated
that excellent Philolbpher , from
allowing the Confideration of Final
Caufes in Phy licks, was, that the
School* Philofophers , and many
other Learned men, are wont to

pro*

( 5 )

propofe it too unwarily, as if there
were no Creature in the world that
was not fblely,or at leaft chiefly, de-
fign’d for the Service or Benefit of
Man : Inlbmuch that I remember I
have feen a Body of Divinity, pub-
lifh’d by a famousWriter, wherein,
to prove the opinion he favours, of
thole that would have the world
annihilated after the day of Judge¬
ment, he urgeth this Argument ;
That fince theWorld was made for
the fake of Man in his travelling
Condition ( homini viator is caufaj
when once Man is poffefs’d of his
Everlafting State of Happinels or
Mifery , there will be no further
ufe of the World. The opinion,
that gives rife to fuch prefumptu-
ous and unwarrantable Expreflions,
did, as I guefs by his objection,
more choqtie Des Cartes^ than I won¬
der that it fhould difpleafe him.
But the indicretion of men ought
not to prejudice Truth ; which
mu ft not be caft away, with the un-

B 3 wa;«

( o •.

warrantable Conceits that forne
men have pinn’d upon it.

S

Wherefore, fince I cannot entire¬
ly clofe, either with the opinion of
the Epicureans, or of the Cartefans ,
I fhall leave each party to maintain
its own opinion, and proceed to pro¬
pole mine : For the clearing of
which, and indeed of the Dilqui-
Ixtion of Final Caufes , I fhall beg
leave to premile a Diftin£tion ,
which, though novel, I fhall ven¬
ture to employ, becaufe it comprifes
and diftinguifhes fome things ,
which I think, ought neither to be

overlook’d nor confounded.

• *

I conceive then, that when we
fpeak of the Ends which Nature, or
rather the Author of Nature, is faid
to have in things Corporeal, One
of thele four things may be figni-
fy’d, or, if you like that exprellion
better, the End defign’d by Nature
may be fourfold :

0

(7)

Firfi, there may be Pome grand
and General Ends of the whole
World, fuch as the Exercifing and
Difplaying the Creators immenfe (

Power and admirable Wilciom, the

Communication ot his Goodness,
and the Admiration and Thanks
due to him from his Intelligent
Creatures, for thefe his divine Ex¬
cellencies, whole Productions ma-
nifelt hi? Glory. And tbeie Ends,
becaule they regard the Creation of \
the whole Idniverle, I call the Oni*
%>erfttl Ends oi God or Nature.

Secondly, in a lomewhat more
reftrain’d fenfe, there may be Ends
defign’d in the number, fabrick,
placing, and wayes of moving the
great Mafles of Matter, that, for
their Bulks or Qualities, are con-
fiderable parts of the World ; fince
’tis very probable, that thefe bodies,
fuch as the Sun, Moon, and fixed
Stars, and the Terraqueous Globe,

and perhaps each of its two chief
' ■ . B. 4 pates

( 8 )

parts, the Earth and the Sea, were
fo fram’d and plac’d, as not onlyto
be capable of perfevering in their
own prefent ftate, but alfo as was
moft conducive to the Univerfal
Ends of the Creation, and the
good of the whole World, whereof
they are notable parts. Upon
which account thefe Ends, may,
for diftin&ions fake, be call’d Cof-
mical or Syjlematical , as regarding
the Symmetry of the great Syftem
of the world.

* »

There is a Third fort of Ends, that
do more peculiarly concern the
Parts of Animals ( and probably
Plants too J which are thole, that
the particular parts of Animals are
deftinated to, and for the welfareof
the whole Animal himlelf, as he is
an entire and diftinift Syftem of or¬
ganiz’d parts, deftinated to pre¬
serve himlelf and propagate his
Species, upon fuch a Theatre ( as
W ater or Air ) as his
Stru.aure and Circumftances de¬
termine

( > >

termine him to a£t his part on. And
thele Ends, to diforiminate them
from others, may be call’d Animal
Ends.

Fourthly, and laftly, there is an¬
other fort of Ends, which, becaufo
they relate particularly toMan,may,
for brevity’s fake, be call’d Human
Ends, which are thofo that are
aim’d at by Nature, where fhe is
faid to frame Animals and Vege¬
tables , and other of her producti¬
ons, for the ufo of Man. And thefe
Ends themfolves may be diftin-
guifh’d iuto Mental , that relate to
His Mind, and Corporeal,' that re¬
late to His Body, not only as He is
an Animal fram’d like other Ani¬
mals , for his own Prefervation,
and the propagation of his Species
(Mankind;) but alfo as He is
fram’d for Dominion over other
Animals and works of Nature,
and fitted to make them fubfervi-
ent to the Deftinations , that one
pnay fuppofe tq have been made

of

( to )

of them to His fervice and benefits

This DiftinQdonof FindCmfes ,
which I hope will not prove alto¬
gether ufelels, being premis’d ; I
fhall begin my intended Dilcourle,
by owning a diiTent from both the
oppofite Opinions ; Theirs , that,
with the vulgar of Learned Men,
will take no notice of Final Caules
but thole we have ftiled Hamm
ones ; and theirs , that ( as they
think, with Defcartes ) reje£l Fi¬
nal Caules altogether ; fince, tho*
I judge it erroneous to fay in the
ftri£teft fenle, that every thing in
the Vilible World, was made for
the llle of Man ; yet I think 5tis
more erroneous to deny, that any
thing was made for ends InveftF
gable by Man.

5Tis a known Principle of the
Cartejim Philofophy , That there
is always juft the lame quantity of
Motion in the World at one time,
that there is at another : Of which
; ' After-

Affertion this Reafcn is given |
That there is no Caufe, why God,
who is Immutable, fhould at the
beginning of things, when he firffc
put Matter into Motion, have gi¬
ven it fuch a quantity of Motion,
as would need to be afterwards
augmented or leffeh’d. But I lee
not, how by this Negative way
of Arguing, thole that impioy it,
do not ( implicitly at leaft) take
upon them to judge of the Ends,
that God may have propos’d to
himlelf in Natural things. For,
without a Suppofition , that they
know what God defign’d in let¬
ting Matter a-moving , ’tis hard
for them to fhew, that His Defign
could not be luch, as might be beft
accompliCh’d by lometimes adding
to, and lometimes taking from, the
Quantity of Motion he communi¬
cated to Matter at firft. And I
think it may be worth coniider-
ing, Whether by this Doftrine of
theirs, the Cartefuws do not more
take upon them than other Philo,
' ■ ; fbphers

/

( 1 2 )

fophers , to judge of God’s De.-
iigns. For , if a Man be known
to be very Wife, and have vari¬
ous ways of compahing his feve-
ral Ends, He that, feeing fome of
thofe ways have a diredt tenden¬
cy to Fome Rational End, fhalf
conclude That End to be one of
thofe that is intended, does there¬
by lefs prefume, and expreft more
refpedlto that Wife Man, than he
that fhould conclude, that thofe
cannot be his Ends, and that He
can have no other Defign knowa-
ble by us, except a certain Gene¬
ral one nam’d by the AlTertor.
And indeed, it feems more eafie to
know, that this or that particular
thing, for which an Engine is pro¬
per, may be among others , intend¬
ed by the Artificer, tho’ never fa
Skilful, than to know Negatively,
that he can have no other than fuch
or fuch an End.

And how will a Cartesian allure
among the many Ends,

that

me, that

that he grants that God may have
propos’d to himfelf in the Produ¬
ction of his Mundane Creatures;
one may not be. That We, whom
he has vouchfaf’d.to make Intelli¬
gent Beings, and capable of Admi¬
ring and Praifmg him, fhould find
juft cauft to do fo, for the Wifdom
and Good nets he has dilplay u in
the World ? which Attributes we
could not well dilcern or celebrate,
unlefs we knew as well, that die
Creatures were made for Inch lifts,
as that they are exceedingly well
fitted for them. I know God’s Xm- \
mutability is alledged, to prove
that the Quantity of Motion is ne¬
ver vary’d : But to me ’tis not evi¬
dent, why God’s having particular
Ends, tho’ lome of them feem to
require a Change in his way of
ACting in Natural Things, muft
be more inconfiitent with his Im¬
mutability, than his Caufing many
things to be brought to pafs, which s
tho’ abdtevno he decreed to do, are (
y?t not actually done , unleis in y

procels

/

(f:4>

procefi of Time. And particular¬
ly it feems not clear, why God
may not as well be Immutable,
tho’ he fhould lometimes vary the
Quantity of Motion that he has
put into the World, as He is, tho’,
according to the Opinion of molt
( °f the Cartejtans themfelves , he
) does daily create multitudes of Ra-
{ tional Souls, to unite them to Hu¬
man Bodies : Elpecially conlider-
ing, that thele newly created fiib-
ftances , are , according to Des-
Cartes, endow’d with a power, to
determine and regulate the moti¬
ons of the Spirits and the Conari-
on ; which are things clearly Cor¬
poreal, I fay not this, as if I ab-
iolutely rejected the Crnefun Do¬
ctrine, about the continuance of
the fame Quantity of Motion in the
whole Mafs of Matter. For, whe¬
ther or no it be a Truth ; I think
’tis no unuleful nor improbable
Hypothecs: And I have not lb
inuch argued againfi it, as upon the
Grounds fia, which they argue/iv it*

Where*

— - * -w

^ at .iii * W' * "X-

Wherefore, to come now to the
thing it felf, whereas Monfieur
Des-Cartes obje£ts, that ’tis a Pre*
fumption for Man, to pretend to
be able to inveftigare the Ends,
that the Gmnifcient God propos’d
to himfelf in the making of his
Creatures ; I confider by way of
Anfwer, That there are two very
differing ways, wherein a Man may
pretend to know the Ends of God
in his vifibie Works : For, he may
either pretend to know only fome
of God’s Ends , in Ibme of his
Works ; or, he may pretend to
know all his Ends. He that arro¬
gates to himfelf, to difcover God’s
Ends in this latter fenfe, will fcarce
be excus’d from a high Prefump-
tion, and no lefs a Folly, from the
reafbn lately intimated in the Cay-
tefian Objection. But to pretend
to know God’s Ends in the former
fenfe, is not a Prefumption , but
rather, to take notice, of them is a
Duty. For, there are fbrne things
in Nature fo curioufly contrived,

i

*7*

OO

and fo exquifitly fitted for certain
Operations and Ufes, that it feems
little left than Blindnefs in Him,
that acknowledges with the Carte-
funs a mod wife Author of things^
not to conclude, that, tho7 they
may have been defign’d for other ,
and perhaps higher Ufes ; yet they
were defign’d for this life. As he
that fees the Admirable Fabric of
the Coats, Humors, and Mufcles
of the Eyes, and how excellently
all the parts are adapted to the
making up of an Organ of Vifion,
can fcarce forbear to believe, that
the Author of Nature intended It
fhould ferve the Animal, to which
it belongs, to See with. The Epi¬
cureans indeed , that believe the
World to have been produc’d but
by the cafual concourfe of Atoms,
without the intervention of any In¬
telligent Being , may have a kind
of excufe, whereof other Philofo-
phers are deftitute, that acknow¬
ledge a Deity, if not alio a Provi¬
dence. For the very Suppofition,

(*7) . ;

for infi:ance,that a mans Eyes were
made by Chance, argues, that they
need have no relation to a defign-
ing Agent ; and the uJe that a man
makes of them , may be either
cafual too, or at leaffc may be an
effe£t of His knowledge, not of Na¬
ture's. But when, upon the Ana¬
tomical Difle&ion, and the Optical
Confideration, of a Human Eye, we
fee ’tis as exqui fitly fitted to be an
organ of Sight, as the beft Artificer
in the world could have fram’d a
little Engine, purpofely and mainly
defign’d for theuJe of feeing ; ’tis
very harfh and incongruous to Jay,
• that an Artificer , who is too intel¬
ligent either to do things by chance,
or to make a curious piece of work¬
man (hip without knowing what
ufes ’tis fit for* fliould not defign
it for an u(e to which ’tis mod fit.

’Tis not to be deny’d that he may
have more uJes for it than one, and
perhaps fuch ufes as we cannot di¬
vine : but this hinders not, but that,

C amoni

/'

' (18)

among its feverai ufes , this, to
which we fee it fo admirably a
dapted, fhould be thought one.
And I fee not, how it does magni-
fie Gods wifdom, or exprefe our
Yeneration ofit, to exclude out of
the number of his Ends in framing
Human Eyes, that* moft obvious
and ready ufe, which we are fure is
made of them , and whfeh they
could not be better fitted for. This
may perhaps be not unfitly illuftra-
ted by the following .Companion,
whereof the application were fii-
perfluoits Suppofe that a Coun¬
try Man , being in a clear day
brought into the Garden of feme
famous Mathematician, fhould fee
there, one of thole curious Gno-«
monick Inftruments, that fhowat
once, the place of the Sun in the
%o alack , his Declination from the
M quator-y the Day of the Month ,
the Length of the Day,& c. It would
indeed be .preemption in him, be-'
ing unacquainted both with the
Mathematical Difciplines, and the

feverai

( >9 )

feveral Intentions of the Artift, to
pretend or think himfelf able, to
difcover all the Ends, for which fo
Curious and Elaborate a Piece
was framed. But when he fees it
furnifhed with a Stile, with Ho¬
rary Lines and Numbers, and in
fhort, with all the Requisites of a
Sun Dial , and manifeftly perceives
the Shadow to mark from time
time , the Hour of the Day ;
’twould be no more a Preempti¬
on than an Error in him to con*
elude, that ( whatever other UUes
the Inftrument is fit, or was de-
fign’d for ) it is a Sun -Dial, that
was meant to fhew the Hour of
the Day.

And here I fihall demand of
thofe, that will not allow us to
think, that any Natural Things
are direfted to Ends knowable by
Men ; whether, if the Divine Au¬
thor of them had really defign’d
them for fuch Ends , the things
themfelves are not fo Fram’d and

C 2 T> h

dire£ted,as in that cafe they fhould
be ? And whether the Fabrick and
Management of Natural Things,
do really countenance or contradict
our Suppofition ?

For my part , after what has
been already difeours’d, I fcruple
not to confels, that I lee not why
it fhould be reputed a Dilparage-
ment to the W ifciom of any Agent
whatibever, to think, that his Pro¬
ductions were defign’d for fuch
Ends., among others, as they are
excellently fram’d and fitted for;
unlefis it did appear, that thole
Ends were unworthy to be De~
fign’d by the Wife Agent. But
that cannot be juftly laid in our
prefent Cafe ; fince ’tis not injuri¬
ous to the Divine Author of things,
to believe that fome of the Ends,
to which he deftinated divers of
his Corporeal Works, were ; To
exert and communicate His Exu¬
berant Goodnels, and to receive
from his intelligent Creatures, fuch

• as

as Men, an ardent Love, a high
Admiration , and an obfequious
Gratitude, for having difplay’d lb
much Wifdom and Beneficence, in
exquifitly qualifying his Works
to be wonderfully ferviceable to
one another, and a great number
of them to be particularly fubfer-
vient to the Neceflities and Utili¬
ties of Man.

And indeed I can by no means
aftent to that Affertion of Mr. Des~
Curtes , That it can'
not be laid , that
fomeof Gods Ends
(in his Corporeal
Works) are more
manifeft than ' o-
thers ; but that all
of them, lie equally
hid in the Abyfs
of the Divine Wift

Nec fingi poteft?
aliquos Dei Fine,s>
magisquam alios,
in propatulo efle ;
omnes enim in im-
perfcrutabili ejus
fapientiae Abyffp
funt eodem modo
reconditi. Refp.
Quart. ad ObjeA
Gaffendi,

dom : fince there are many of hi$
Creatures, fbme of whole Ules
^re fo manifeft and obvious, that
the generality of Mankind , both

C l Phi-

Philolbphers and Plebeians, have
in all Ages, and almoft in all Coun¬
tries, taken Notice of, and Ac¬
knowledg’d them. And as to what
he adds, ( by which he feems to
intimate the motive that led him
to make the foremention’d Affer-
tion, ) That in Phy licks, all things
ought to be made out by certain
and folid Reafons ; to this I an-
fwer, Firft , That I lee not why
the admitting, that the Author of
Things defign’d lome of his Works
for thele or thole Idles, amongft
N others, may not confift with the
Phyfical Accounts of making of
thole things ; as a Man may give
a Mechanical Realon of the Stru-
fdure of every Wheel and other
part of a Watch, and of their
way of aiding upon one another
when they are rightly put toge¬
ther, and in fhort, of the Contri¬
vance and Phwnomenti of the little
Machine ; tho’ ■ he fuppole , that
the Artificer defign’d it to fhow
the hours of the day, and tho? he

• have

(*3 ) -

have that intended ufe in his Eye,
whilft he Explicates the Fabrick
and Operations of the Watch. I
anfwer , Secondly , That I rea'
clily admit, that in Phyficks we.
fhould indeed ground all things
upon as folid Realbns as may be
had ; But I fee no neceffity, that
thole Reafons fhould be always
precilely Phyfical : Efpecially if
we be treating, not of any parti¬
cular P hiBtiOMtnon , that is produc d
according to the courle of Nature
eftablifh’d in the World , already
conflituted as this ol outs is : but
of the firft and general Cauies of
the World it felt; from which
Caufes, I fee not why the Final
Caufes, or Ufes, that appear ma-
nifeftly enough to have been de-
lign’d, fhould be excluded. And
to me ’tis not very material, whe¬
ther or no, in Phyficks or any o-
ther Difcipline, a thing be prov’d
by the peculiar Principles of that
Science or Difcipline ; provided it
be firmly proVed by the common

C 4 • grounds

grounds of Reafon. And on this
occafion let me oblervc, that the
Fundamental Tenents of Mr. Des-
Cartes’s own Philofophy, are not
by himfelf prov’d by Arguments
ftriaiy Phyfical ; but either by
Metaphyfical ones , or the more
Catholick Dictates of Reafon, or •
the particular teftimonies of Ex¬
perience. For when, for inftance,
he truly afcribes to God, all the Mo¬
tion that is found in Matter ; and
conlequently, all the variety of
Vhcenomma that occur in the
World ; he proves not by an Ar¬
gument precilely Phyfical, that
f God, who is an Immaterial Agent,
is the efficient caule of Motion in
S Matter ; but only by this , That
fince Motion does not belong to
the E/fence and nature of Matter,
Matter muft owe the Motion it has
to feme other Being: And then
’tis moft agreeable to common Rea¬
son. to infer, that , fince Matter
cannot move, it felf, but it muft be
inov’d by lome other Being, that

' ' * Be-

( 2? )

Being muft be Immaterial, fince
other wife fbme Matter muft be
able to move i‘t felf contrary to the
Hypothecs, And when Des-Cartes
goes to demonftrate, that there is
always in the Univerle, the felf-
fame quantity of Motion, (that
is*, juft as much at any one
time , as at any other ) and con-
fequently , that as much motion
as one Body communicates to ano¬
ther, it loofes it felf ; he proves it,
by the Immutability of God, which
is not a Phyfical Argument ftriftly
io call’d, but rather a Metaphyficai
One as he formerly prov’d, God’s
being the Caufe of all Motion in
Matter, not by Principles peculiar
to Phyficks, but by the common
grounds of Reaion,

C’eft une chofe
qui de foy eft ma-
nifefte, que nous
ne pouvons con-
noiftre les finade
Dieu, ft lay meft*
me ne nous ler* rer
vele. tt encore

Mens

The ? Monjieur
Des-Cartes does, as
I have .formerly
flhown, fpeak very
Dogmatically and
Univerfally , againft

f 2<r )

qu’il foit vray en
Morale, en egard
a nous autres
homines, quetoutes
chofes ont eftefai-
tes pour la gloire
de Dieu , a caufe
que les hommes
font obligez de
louer Dieu pour
tous fes ouvrages ;

& qn’on puiffe
aufli dire, 'que le
foleil a efte fait
pour nous eclairer,
pour ce que nous
experimentons que
le foleil en etfet
nous • eclaire : ce
feroit toutes fois
line chofe puerile
Sr abfurde, d’afla-
rer en Metaphy-
fique, que Dieu, a
la facon d’un honl-
me fuperbe, n’au-
roit point eu d’au-
Jrre fin en baftif
fant le Monde, que
cede deftre ioue
par les hommes; &
qu’il n’auroit cree
le foleil , qui eft
plufieurs fois plus

grand que la Terre, a autre deflein que d’eclah
rer Thomme,. quin’en occupe qu’une tres=pe-
tite partie, t-

' • Odd

Mens endeavouring
or pretending to
know any Final
Caufes in Natural
things; for which
Realbn I have , as
wel! as the genera¬
lity of his otlier
Readers, and even
his DifcipieSjlook’d
upon the Senfe* of
* thofe pofitive Ex-
preffions as con¬
taining his OpiniT
on yet, fince I wri t
the foregoing part
of this Treatife , I
lighted onaPaffage
of his, wherein he
feems to fpeakmore
cautioufly or refer-
vedIy,oppofing His
Reafoningto Their

* . \

( 2 7 )

Opinion who teach, that God hath
no other End in making the World,
but that of being prais’d by Men.
But in that fhort Dilcourfe where¬
of this PafTage is a part, there are
two or three other things wherein
I cannot Acquiefce. As firft, that
’tis Self evident , that we cannot
know the Ends of God, unlefs he
Himfelf reveal them to us; ( he
mud mean in a Supernatural way,
it he will nor ipeak impertinent¬
ly : ) For what he fays to Ije evi¬
dent of it felf, is not at all fo, to
the generality of Mankind , and
even of Philofophers ; and there¬
fore I think, it ought not to be
barely pronounc’d, but f if it can
be ) fhoukl be prov’d, And next,
he does not fhowhow we are ob¬
lig’d to praife God for his Works,
if He had no intention to have us
do fo, or that we fhould di (cover
any of the Ends for which He
made them. IF a judicious Man
fhould fee a great Book, written in
feme Indian Language , which he

(28)

is utterly a Stranger to, and fhould
know nothing of it, but that ’twas
made by a very Intelligent Phyfi-
cian : He might indeed conclude,
that the Work was not made
by chance, but would have no
means to be convinc’d by the In-
fpeftion of the Book it felf, that
it was compos’d with great Skill
and Kindnels , and deferv’d his
Praile and Thanks Since he could
not know any of the particular
Ends,, to which the leveral Chap¬
ters of it were deffinated, norcon-
fequently difcover how skilfully
they were fitted to reach fudi
Ends. What Des-Cartes lays, that
’tis childilh and abfurd to think,
that God had created the Sun*
which is many times bigger than
the Earth, only to afford Light to
Man, who is but a very fmalf part
of It, is lomewhat invidioully pro¬
pos’d ; there being few able Wri¬
ters, that confine the Utility of the
Sun direftly to the affording Light
to Man ; and the littlenefs of his

Bulks

1 t

( 29)

Bulk, ought not to make It thought
abfurd, that God may have had an
efpecia) Eye to his Welfare, in fra¬
ming that bright Globe ; fince not
only, for ought appears to us, that
mod excellent Engine of Mans
Body, is a more admirable thing
than the Sun, but the rational and >

I immortal Sou-1 that reficies in it, is*

I incomparably more noble than a
| thoufand Malles of brute Matter,
and that not (o much as Organiz’d,
can be juftly reputed, (as will be
I hereafter more fully declared.) And
fince in this very Difcourle, the
accute Author of it confelfes, that
we may know the ends of God’s
Corporeal Works, if He reveal
them to us ; a Chriftian Philofb-
pher may be allow’d, to think the
Sun was made, among other pur-
pofes, to inlighten the Earth, and
for the ufe of Man , fince the
Scripture teaches us, that not only
I the Sun and Moon, but the Stars
| of the Firmament , which Des - V
Canes not improbably thinks to be

( 3o ) I

ib nlany Suns, were made to give
Light to the Earth, and were divi¬
ded to all the Nath
Deiit. 4. 19- ons that inhabit it.

Perhaps, it were not
lafli to add, that I Tee not why
the Belief, .that a Man may know
fome of God’s Ends in things
Corporeal , fhould more derogate ^
from our Veneration of his
Wiidom , than to think we
know fome of his Ends in other
Matters , of which the Scrip¬
ture furnifhes us with a mul¬
titude of Inftances, as ( particu¬
larly ) toat of Job fieri being for
his Friends ; and the' declar’d Ufes
of the Vrim and Thumim : Since
G.od may , if He pleafes , declare
Truths to Men, and inftruft them,
by his Creatures and his Anions,
as well as by his Words : As when
He taught Noah by the Rain-bow,
and Jonah by a Gourd and a
Worm, and regulated the Incamp-
h nient of the IJraeUtts , by the gui-
dance of a Cloud , and a fiery

Pillar*

Pillar. LafHy , whereas Monfieur
Dcs-Cartes objects , that thole he
diffents from, talk as if they look’d
upon God as a proud Man, who*
defign’d his Works only to be
prais’d .for them ; I know not,
whether in this place he fpeaks fc
cautioufly and reverently of God,
as he ought , and elle where is
wont to do. For as Humility, tho’
it be a Vertue in Men, is extreamly
remote from being any of Gods
Perfeftions, lo That may be pride
in a Manf who is but a Creature,
imperfeft, dependent, and hath )
nothing that he has not receiv’d ;
which would be none at all in God,
who is uncapable of Vice, and who
may , if he pleale , jufUy propole
tohimlelf His own Glory for one
of his Ends, and both require and
delight to be prais’d by Men for

his Works ; fince he is molt wor-

* —

. ty and renfomble fervice , which he
isgracioufly pleas’d to approve of,

)

to pay it Him.

Tis

’Tis not without trouble, that I
find my felf oblig’d by the exigen¬
cy of my defign, Co much to op>
pcfe, in feveral places of this pre¬
lent Difcourfe, feme Sentiments of
Mr. Des-Cartes , for whom other-
wife I have a great efteem, and
from, whom I am not forward to
diffent. And this I the rathef de¬
clare to you, becaufe I am not at
all of Their mind, that think Mr.

' Des-Cartes a favourer of Atheiffn,
which, to my apprehenfitti, would
lubvert the very foundation of
thofe Tenents of Mechanical Phi-
lofephy, that are particularly his.
But judging that his Do£trine (at
leaft as it is tinderfiood by feveral
of his Followers, as well as his Ad¬
versaries ; ) about the rejeftion of
Final Caufes from the consideration
of Naturalifts, tends much to wea¬
ken, ( as is elfewhere noted ) if
not quite to deprive us of, one of
thebeft and moft fuccefsful Argu¬
ments, to convince Men, that there

is

. _ yfr

v ' fS?)

is a God, arid that they ought to

Admire , Praife, and Thank him :

I think it riiy duty to prefer an im¬
portant truth, before my refpedt
to any Man, how eminent fbever, '
that oppofes it ; and to confider
jmore the Glory of the great Au¬
thor of Nature, than the Reputa¬
tion of any one of Her Interpre-

, And to ftrengthen what I have
been faying, give me leave to mind

you more exprefly here, of what
1 have elfewhere Intimated, viz*
That the excellent Contrivance of
the great Syftem of the World,
and efpecially the curious Fabrick
of the Bodies of Animals, and the
Ufes of their Senfories, and other
parts , have been the great Mo¬
tives, that in all Ages and Nati¬
ons induc’d Philofbphers to ac7
knowledge a Deity, as the Author
of thefe admirable Strufiures ; and
that the Nobleft arid moft Intelli¬

gent Praifes, that have been paid

V Birtf

( h)

Him by the Priefts of Nature, have
been occafion’d and indited by the
Tranfcending Admiration, which
the attentive Contemplation of the
Fabrick of the Univerfe and of the
curious Structures of Living Crea¬
tures , juftly produc’d in them.
And therefore it feems injurious to
God, as well as unwarrantable in
it lelf , to banifh from Natural
Philofophy , the Confideration of
Final Caufes ; from which chiefly,
if not only, I cannot but think
( tho’ tome Learned Men do other-
wife ) that God muft reap the Ho¬
nour that is due to thofe glorious
Attributes , his Wifdom , and his
Goodnefs. And I confefs, I fome-
what wonder, that the Cartefiansy
who have generally, and fome of
them skilfully, maintain’d the Ex.
iftence of a Deity, fhould endea¬
vour to make Men throw away an
' Argument, which the Experience
of all Ages fhews to have been the
mofl: Succefsful , (and in fome
Cafes the only prevalent one,) to

eltablifh

- ■■ «<•

r

(3?)

eftablilh among Philofophers the
Belief and Veneration of God. I
know the Cart eft ms fay, That their
Matter has demonftrated, the Ex*
; iftence of a God, by the Innate
Idea that Men have of a Being in¬
finitely perfect ; who left it upon
! the mind of Man, as the mark of
an Artifi imprefi upon his Work:
And alio that they afcribe to God,
the having made Matter out of
nothing, and alone put it into Mo-
| tion ; which fufficiently argue the
| Immenfity of his Power. But,
j thi ? I would by no means weaken
the Argument , drawn from the
Inbred Notion of God , fince I
know, that divers Learned Men
I have Acquielc’d in it ; yet, on the
| other fide, I fee not, why we may
not reafbnably think, that God,

I who, as themfelves confefs, has
been pleas’d to take care, Men
: fhould acknowledge Him , may
alio have provided for the (ecu ring
of a Truth of fb great Conlequence,
by ttamping Chara&ers, or lea-

D 3 ving

ving Xmprefles, that Men may
know his Wildom and Goodnels
by , as well without , upon the
World , as within, upon the Mind.
The bare Speculation of the Fa-
brick of the World, without con-
fidering any part of it as deftinated
to certain ( or determinate ) Ules,
may ftill leave Men unconvinc’d,
that there is any Intelligent, Wife,
and Provident Author and Difpoler
of Things : Since we lee generally
the Ariftotelians ( before lome of
them were better InftruCted by the
Chriftian Religion ) did, notwith-
Handing the Extent , Symmetry,
and Beauty of the World, believe
it to have been Eternal. And tho*
They , whatever their Mafter
thought, did not believe it to have
been Created by God ; yet, be-
caule they afferted that Animals,
Plants, &c. aft for Ends, they
were oblig’d to acknowledge a
Provident and Powerful Being, that
maintain’d and govern’d the Uni-
Verle, which they call’d Nature :

Tho’

(37)

iTho’ they too often dangeroufly
miftook, by fometirnes cqnfound-
iqg this Being with God himlelf ;
and at other times, fpeaking of it
as Co-ordinate with him, as in that
famous Axiom of Arifiotle , Dms
& Natura nihil faciunt frufta . I
acknowledge therefore, that, as I
let a juft value upon the Cartepan
Proof of God’s Exiftence, lb I fee
tio reafbn, why we fhould disfur-
nifh our felves of any other ftrong
Argument to prove fo noble and
important a Truth ; efpecially,
fince the Cartepan way of confider-
ing the World, is very proper in-
1 deed to fhew the Greatnefs of
God’s Power, but not, like the
way I plead for, to manifeft that
of his Wifdom and Beneficence.
For, whereas a Cartepan does but
fhew, that God is admirably W ife,
upon the fuppofition of his Exi¬
ftence ; in our way, the fame thing
is manifefted by the Effe£t of a
Wifdom, as well as Power, that
cannot reafbnably be afcribed to

D j any

(38)

¥ . *:

any other, than a moft intelligent
and potent Being : So that by This
way, Men may be brought, upon
the lame account, both to acknow¬
ledge God, to admire Him, and to
thank Him.

t • * v; *"* ’’ '

vmm

K

V

TO give you now my thoughts
of the fecond Queftion, w.
TV hether we may confder FinalCaufes
in all forts of Bodies , or only in fame
■peculiarly Qualiff d Ones. I muft
divide Natural Bodies into Animate
and Inanimate. The former of
which Terms, I here take in the
larger Icnfs of thole, who under it
comprehend , not only Animals,
but Vegetables ; tho’ I lhall not
difdainfully rejed the Opinion of
thole Learned Men, that are un¬
willing to allow Plants a foul or
life, at leaft as properly fo call’d,
as that which is confelTedly gran¬
ted to Animals.

Of the Inanimate Bodies of the
Univerfe , the Noble 11, and thole

D 4 whiefe

(4o)

which on this occafion deforve
chiefly to be confidered, are the
Son, Planets, and other Cceleftiai
Bodies. For, when Men law thole
vaft' and luminous Globes , and
efpeciallV the Sun , move fo con-
ftantly, and fo regularly, about the
Earth , and diifufo on it Light and
Heat ; and by their various, Revo¬
lutions produce day -and night,
Summer and Winter, and the Vi-
ciffitudes of Seafbns , that are fo
opportune for the Inhabitants of
the Earth : The obftryers, I fay,
of all this concluded s both that
thefo Motions were guided by fomc

Divine Being, and that they' were
defign’d for the benefit of Man!
Whether this be a demonfiratiye
Collett ton,\ fliall not now debatc;but
| foe not , why it may not have
jhas' much of Probability in it ;
ihat in cafe a Man fhali think, that
the'Fabrick of the Cceleftiai parts
of the World, was the curious Pro¬
duction of an Intelligent and Di¬
vine Agent, the: regular Hccmmem
■■'■.VAl/ V , ,r- : 1 , of

'vf.

>• 4

(40

of the Heavens will not contradict

...» *

him ; fince there is nothing in that
Fabrick that misbecomes a Divine
Author ; and the Motions and Ope-
mipns of the Sun and Stars are
foch, but that they will allow
uiHo think , that , among other
.purpofes, they were made to Illu¬
minate the Terreftrial Globe, and
bring Heat and othefr Benefits to the
Inhabitants of it : So that the Con¬
templation of the Heavens, which

fb manifeftly declare
Pfai. ip. i.- the Glory of God, may

. juftly excite Men, both
to admire his Power and Wifdom
in them, and to return him Thanks
and Praifes, for the great Benefits
that accrue to us by them.

But now, , on the other fide, it
may be Hid/ that in bodies Inani¬
mate, whether the portions of Mat¬
ter they coofift of be greater or let
ftr, the Contrivance is very rarely
fo Exquifite,Tbut that the various
Motions and Occurfions of the parts
, c - .■ * * : ~ • of

(42)

of Matter may be, without much
Improbability, fufpefted to be ca¬
pable, after many EiTays, to call
one another into divers of thole
Circumvolutions of Matter, that,
I remember, Epicurus ealh
and Des-Vartes Vortices '; winch
being once imade , may continue
very long, by the means exprefs’d
by cm eliujr, or by forrie other as
probable’ ‘Ones. But , U'ifhout al¬
lowing this Hypothec's % be more
thart ,nbt yery improbable, when I
conlider, what Caules there may
Jbe to feairVthat we .are. not yet
fcfficiently acquainted with the
true Syfte’rh 'ot' the World , and
are ' not lifually fehfibie enough,
how final! a ‘part W 8; and the T er-
reftfial Globe we inhabit, make of
the Universe y I to fear

too, that Men are wont, with grea¬
ter Confidence than Evidence, to
affign the Systematical Ends and
Ufes of the Coeleftial Bodies, and
to conclude them to be made and
moved, only for the ferviceof the

Earth

Earth and its Inhabitants. And
tho ’, even as a meer Naturalift, I
will not deny, that, as Man actu¬
ally receives Benefits by the efta-
blilh’d order and motion of the
Stars , lo one of the feveral Ufes
intended by the Author of Nature
in them, may particularly refpeCt
Men ; yet I am apt to think, that by
what we hitherto know, ’twill not
be eafie to be prov’d, that fbme,
at leaft, of the Cceleftial Bodies
and Motions, may not be in¬
tended more for other purpoles.

than to call their Beams, or fhed
their Influences ( fuppofing they
have fome) upon the Earth. And
at leaft, I cannot but think, that
the Situations of the Cceleftial Bo¬
dies, do not afford by far fb clear
and cogent Arguments, of the W if
dom and Defign of the Author of
the World , as do the bodies of
Animals and Plants. And for my
part I am apt to think , there is
more of admirable Contrivance
jn & Mans Muffles, than in ( what

we

m -

Sy.im 3jl

mm

-.3 if

rl'r

'll

V

1:1

we yet know of) the Cekfii4
Orbs ; and that the Eye of a Fly is,
( at leaft as far as appears to us, )
a more curious piece of Workman*
fhip, than the Body of the Sun.

v J * h f n J- ' .) . • \ ; c .

As for other Inanimate Bodies, as
Stones , Metals &rc, whole matter
leerns not organiz’d ; tho’ there be
ft o abfurdity to think, that they al¬
io were made for dillinct particu¬
lar purpofes, if not alio for Human
Ufes ; yet moft pf them are, of fuph
caly and unelaborate contextures,
that it leems not abfurd to thinly,
that varipus occurlfops and juftlings
of the parts of the Univerfal matter,
pay at one time or other have /r<?-
Arc’ithemifince we lee.infbmeChv-
picai Sublimations,; and ChriftaliL
zattqns. of. Mineral and, Mettalline-
Solutipqs, and lome. other PMno-
where ,the mdtions appear not
tp; be Particularly guided and di¬
rected by an Intelligent Caule, that

Bodies of as various Contextures,

as thole are wont to be, may be pro-
I ' ■ duc’d ;

* • %

( 4J )

duc’d ; of which I have elfewhere
given lome Inftances.

If it be objected, that if we allow
Chance, or any thing elle, without
the particular Guidance of a wile
and All-difpofing Caule, to make a
finely fhap’d Stone, or a metalline
fubftance, growing, as I have lome
times leen filver to do, in the form
of a Plant ; it ought not to be de-
nyed, that Chance may allbmake
Vegetables and Animals : I can by
no means allow the confequence.
There are lome effefls, that are lb
ealy, and fo ready, to be produc’d,
that they do not infer any know¬
ledge or intention in their Caules ;
but there are others, that require
fuch a number and concourle of
conlpiring Caufes, and fuch a con¬
tinued feries of motions or operati¬
ons, that ’tis utterly improbable,
they fhould be produced without
the fuperintendency of a Rational
Agent, Wile and Powerfull enough
to range and dilpole the leveral in¬
tervening

• ' ' 1 V

(4«)

tervening Agent’s and Inftruments,
after the manner requifite to the
production of fuch a remote effect.
And therefore it will not follow,
that if Chance could produce a
flight contexture in a few parts of
matter ; we may fafely conclude it
able to produce fo exquifit and ad¬
mirable a Contrivance, as that of
the Body of an Animal. What then,
if lometimes in (awing pieces of va¬
riegated Marble, men happen, tho’
rarely, to meet with the Delineati¬
ons or Pictures ( (bme of which
I have beheld with plealure) of
Towns, Woods, and Men ? For,
befides that the plealingnefe and ra¬
rity of (itch fpe&acles inclines the
Imagination to favour them, and
fupply their defefts ; would any
wife man therefore conclude, that
a real Town or wood, much le(s
numbers of men, fhould be made
by fuch a forluitons concourfe of
matter? What comparifon is there,
betwixt the workmanfhip that
feems to be expreffed in a few ir¬
regular

(47 )

regular Lines, drawn upon a plane
faperpcies , and perhaps two or
three Colours luckily plac’d ; and
the great multitude of Nerves,
Veins, Arteries, Ligaments, Ten¬
dons , Membranes , Bones Glan¬
dules, &c. that are required to the
compleating of a human Body ; of
which numerous parts ( for the
Bones alone are reckon’d to amount
to three hundred ) every one muft
have it’s determinate fize, figure,
confiftence , fituation , connexi¬
on, &c. and mxny or all of them to¬
gether, muft confpire to fuch and
fuch determinate Funflions or
ufes ? And indeed, tho’ I keep by
me lome curious ones, yet I never
law any Inanimate production of
Nature , or, as they fpeak, of Chance f
whole contrivance was compara¬
ble to that of the meaneft Limb of
the difpicableft Animal : and there
is incomparably more Art exprefs’d
in the ftructure of a Doggs foot,
then in that of the famous Clock
at S trash nr g.

And,

j

U8)

<■

r V

And, tho’ the Paw of a Dog will
be confeft’d, to be of a ftrufture far
Inferior to that of the Hand of a
man : yet even This ; however A-
riftotle prettily ftyles it the Inftm-
ment of Inflruments , is a left confix
derable Inftance to my prelent pur-
pole, than another Inftance, which*
therefore, fince my intended brevi¬
ty permits me not to confider m<myr
I fhall pitch upon, as that which I
fhall almoft only inlift on, in the fbft
lowing part of this Tra£L And
this Inftance is afforded me by the
Eye. For Tho’ the parts that con-
curr to make up that admirable Or¬
gan of vifion,are very numerous,
yet how little any of them could
have been fpar’d or alter’d, unleft
for the wofle, may appear by that
great Number of Dileales, that
have been obferv’d in that little
part of the Body. Since each of
thole Dileales conlift in this, that
fome of the Coats, Humors, or other
parts of the Eye, is brought into a
State differing from that whereto*

Nature

(49)

Nature had defign’d it, and where-
into ihe had put it. ’T would be
tedious ib much as to enumerate the
feverah diftempers of the Eye,
whereunto Phyfitians have given
particular Names ; wherefore I
ihall only mention two or three
things, wherein one would Icarce
imagine, that a Imall recels from
the natural ftate could bring any
tonfiderable , or perhaps fenfible , in¬
convenience. That which we call
the Pupil, is not ( you know ) a
fubftantial part of the Eye, but on¬
ly a hole of the Vvea : which aper¬
ture is almoft perpetually changing
it’s bignels, according to the differ¬
ing degrees of Light, that the Eye
chances from time to time to be ex¬
pos’d to. And therefore one would
not think, but that, whilft this hole
remains open, it performs well e«
nough it’s part ; which is, to give
admilfion to the Incident beams of
Light, whether direct or reflected.
And yet I lately law and difcours’d
with a woman, who after a Feaver,

E was

( 5° )

was not able to debate the Pupils
of her eyes as formerly * and tho’
they were fo very little narrower
then ordinary, that I fhould fc&rce
have taken more notice that ’twas
at all fb, if fhe had noVtold me of it,
yet i lie complaiin’d fhe had thereby
alriioft' loft her fight, feeing Objefts
in certain Lights but very dimly
and imperfeQdy. And thof the Pre¬
ternatural conftriefion of the Pupil
be not a frequent diftemper, yet tis
not fo rare, buVthatThyfitians have
given it a place among the Stated
difeafesof the eye. And on the o-
ther fide tho7 it appear by; what
hath been 'newly related, that a
competent widenefs of the Pupil
is requifke to clear and diftin£t Vi-
fioii, yet if it’s widenefs exceed due
Limits, there is produced that di-
ftemper that is Calfd DiLtatio pu-
pilU ; which is worfe then the for¬
mer, becaufe it oftentimes deprives
the Patient almofi: totally of his
fight. And, tho1 it may feem but a
flight circumftance, that the tranP

parent

( $ m)~

parent coats of the eye flhould be
devoid of colour, and of as little mo¬
ment, that the corner flhould be ve¬
ry finooth, provided it be tranlpa-
rent : yet when either of thefe cir-
cumftartces is wanting, the fight
may - he’ much vitiated ; as we lee
that in the Yellow- Jaundies, when
5tis come to a high degree, the ad¬
ventitious Tin&ure wherewith the
Eye is Imbued, makes men think
they fee a yeliownefs in many ob¬
jects , to which that colour does
not belong. And I know an In¬
genious Gentleman, who, having
had a final) puftnla excited and bro¬
ken upon the Cornea, tho’ the eye
have been long whole ; yet a very
little Inequality or deprefiion that
ftill remains upon the Surface of the
Tranfparent Cornea , does fo affe£t
him, that tho’ he can read well in a
Room, yet when he comes into the
open fields or the ftreets, he for a
pretty while ( as himlelf has par¬
ticularly complain’d to me ) thinks
many of the Obje&s he looks on ve-

E 2 ry

/

(5*)

ry Glareing, and fees many others,
as men do ftones at the bottom of
a Brook or running water ; which
I impute to the want of Uniformi¬
ty in the refra£tion of thofe refleft-
ed beams of Light, that fall upon
the Cornea , whole furface is not fo
finoothand equal as it fhould be.

To give Ibme further Proof, that
the Eye was made with defign, I
Ihall here take notice of an obferva-
tion or two, that do not occurr in
the diffefldon of a human Eye, and
therefore are not wont to be menti¬
oned by Anatomifts.

I have oblerved in Frogs, ( as I
prefume fome others alfo may have
done) that, befides thole parts of
the Eye which they have in com¬
mon with Men, Dogs, Cats, and the
moll: part of other Animals, They
have a peculiar, whether mem¬
brane, or Cartilage, or both, which
ordinarily is not perceived ; where¬
with they can at pleafure cover the
Eye, without too much hindering
the fight, becaule this membrane

(«D

is as well Tranfparent as ftrong ;
lo that it may pafs for a kind of
moveable Cornea, and fifl may fo
call it ) a kind of falle-fcabord to
to the Eye. In furnifhing frogs
with this ftrong Membrane, the
providence of Nature feems to be
confpicuous : For they being Am¬
phibious Animals, deiignM to pals
their lives0 in watery places, which
for the moft part abound with
Sedges, and other plants endowed
with fharp Edges or points ; and
the progreflive motion of this A-
nimal being to be made , not by
walking, but by leaping ; if his Eyes
were not provided of fuch a iheath
as I have been mentioning, he muft
either fhut his Eyes, and fo leap
blindly , and by conlequence dange-
roujly , or, by leaving them open,
muft run a" venture to have the
Cornea cut, prickt, or otherwife of¬
fended, by the edges or points of
the Plants, or what may fall from
them upon the Animals Eye :
whereas this Membrane, as was

E j laid,

( 54 )

laid, is like a kind of Spe&acle that
covers the Eye without taking a-
way the fight ; and as loon as the
need of imploying it is pail* the A-
nimal at pleafure withdraws it in¬
to a little Cell, where it Refts out
of the way, till there be occafion
to ufe it again. This you may
fee, if you apply the point of a pin,
or a Pen, or any fuch fbarp thing,
to the Eye of a frog, whilft you
hold his head fteady : for to Icreen
his Eye, he will prelendy cover it
( at leaft for thegreateft part) with
this Membrane , which when the
danger is over he will again with¬
draw. And, becauie many if not
moft forts of Birds, are wont or
deftinated to fly, ( as more would
do if not kept tame ) among the
Branches of Trees and Bulhes ;
leafl: the Prickles, Twigs, Leaves,
or other parts fhould wound or of¬
fend their Eye. Nature hath gi¬
ven them likewiie fuch another
kind, of horny Membrane, as we
have been mentioning in frogs.

9Tis

( 55 )

’Tis known that Men, and the
generality of Four-footed Beads,
and of Birds, have feveral Mufcles
belonging to their Eyes ; by the
help of which Mufcles, they can
turn them this way, or that way,
at pleafure ; and lb can obvert the
Organ of Senfe to the Qbje£b,
whether it be placed on the right
hand or the left, or above or be¬
neath the Eye. But, Nature ha¬
ving not given that Mobility to the
Eyes of Flys, (thereafon whereof
I fhallnot now day to confider) fhe
hath in recompence furnifh’ d them
with a multitude ot litti t protuberant -
parts, finely rang’d upon the con¬
vex of their large and Protuberant
Eyes : So that by means of the
number of thef* little Studs ( ii I
mayfo call them; many beams of
Light that rebound irom Objects
placed on either -hand, or above,
or beneath, the level of the Eye,
fall conveniently enough upon urat
Organ, to make the Objects they
come from, vifible to the Animal.

£4' Which

U*)

Which you will the more eafily be¬
lieve , if you contemplate ( as I
have often done with great plear
lure ) even the Eye of an ordina-
ry FlefhTly, ( fox Bees and other
greater InfeCb have immoveable
Eyes too, but I find them not fo
pretty ) in a good Microicope and
a clear Day. For you may reckon
feme hundreds of thefe little round
Protuberances, curioufly rang’d on
the Convexity of a Angle Eye.

But perhaps fome, whole parti-?
ality for Chance makes them wil¬
ling to afcribe the ftruCtures of
Animals rather to That, then to a
defigning Caufe ; will make them
draw an ObjeQdon, fit to be here
obviated, againft our DoCtrine,
from what we have obferv’d of
the difference between Human and
other Eyes : Since they will pre¬
tend that all Organs of Sight ought
to be conform’d to thofe of Men,
as thole that are the beffc and moft
peffe£h ’Tis true, that Man be¬
ing

(57)

ing juftly reputed the moft perfeQ:
of Animals, it is not ftrange that
he fhould (as Men generally do)
prelume, that His Eyes and other
parts of his Body, are the befl
contriv’d of .any that are to be
found in Nature. But yet I think
we cannot from hence fafely con¬
clude, that all Eyes, which in other
Animals are of Structures differ¬
ing from thole of Man, are for that
reafbn defective. For I confider,
Ftrft, That the admirable W ifdom
difplay’d by the Author of Things,
in fitting the Eyes and other Or-
ganical parts of Animals , for the
lifts that feem manifeftly to have
been defign’d in their Fabrick, and
for the refpeCtive Functions we
aCtually fee them exercife, may
juftly perfuade us, that the things
whole Realbns or Ufes we do not
alike dilcern, are yet moft wifely
conftituted : Such an Author as
God, having too much knowledge
to do any thing unskilfully ; and
We having too much preemption,

if

if we think He can have in the
framing of his Creatures, no Ends
that are beyond our Difcovery.
And, Secondly, We may reprefent,
that the Eye is not to be confider’d
abftra£tedly as an Inftrument of
Vifion, but as an Inftrument be¬
longing to an Animal of this or
that kind ; and who is ordinarily
to make uft of it in fuch and fuch
Circum fiances. And therefore I
think it cbght not at all to Difpa-
rage,; but rather highly Recorm
. mend, the Wildom and Providence
of the great Author of Things ;
that he has furnifh’d various Spe-
gies of Animals, with Organs of
Sight that are very differingly
fram’d and plac’d : Since this di-
verfity nobly manifefts his great
Providence, and (if I may fo call
it ) Forecaft ; that has admirably
fuited the Eyes of the differing
kinds of Animals, both to the reft
of their Bodies, and (which I here
mainly confider ) to thofe parts of
the great Theatre of the World,

(*9)

on which He defigns that they ffedl
live and a£t. Thus though divers
Beafts, as Horfes, Oxen, and lome
others, have their Eyes furnifh’d
with a feventh Mufele, befides the
fix they have in common with
Men ; we muft not conclude , ei¬
ther that the Organs of Vifion are
Imper feel in Men, or that thofe of
thefe Beafts have lomething fuper~
fluous. For Horfes, dv. being to feed
for the moft part on grafs and herbs
of the Field, and, that they may
j the better chufe their Food, being
oblig’d to make their Eyes look ve¬
ry long downwards; the leventh
Mufele does excellently ferve them
to do lb, without that wearinels,
which if they were not furnifh’d
with it, that durably conftrain’d
Pafture would be fure to give them;
whereas Man w'ho has no fuch ne-
ceflity of looking afliduoufly down¬
wards, would-be but incumber’d
‘ by a feveath Mufele.

! On

(<<o)i

On the other fide, the defective-*
nefs obfervable in the Eyes of fbme
Animals, in companion of thole
of Man , may be alcrib’d to the
thriftinefs ( if I may fo (peak ) of
Nature, that, on moft occafions,
declines doing that which is not
necdfary to the particular Ends,
She aims at in the Fabrick of a
Part. Thus Moles being defign’d
to live for the moft part under
Ground, the Eyes which Nature
hath given them, are fo little, in
proportion to their Bodies, that
his commonly believ’d, and even
by fbme Learned Men maintain’d,
they have none at all But tho’ by

JV3 - Anatomy, I, as well as fome others

that! have try’d , have found the
Contrary ; yet their Eyes are very
differing from thofe of other Four-
footed Beafts. Which is not to be
wonder’d at ; considering, that the
defiga of Nature Was, that Moles
Should live under Ground, where
a Sight was needlels and ulelels ;
and where greater Eyes would be

more

\ ' v .

t

fW;)

; more expos’d to danger : And
their Sight, as dim as ’tis, is luf-
ficient to make them perceive that
they are no longer under Ground, .
(at leaft lo as they are wont to be J
which leans to be the inoft necefc
fary ule they have of Light and

| Eyes-

r ■ j „ , v > r • ■ * 7

y.'f U ' r ' \

Zoographers obferve, That the
Qamdion has avery uncommon ftru-
£ture of his vifive Organs ; fince,to
omit lefler, tho’ not inconsiderable,
peculiarities, his Eyes often move
independantly from one another ;
fo that, for Infirance, he may look
dire&ly forward with the right
Eye , and with the other at the
fame time, direQdy backwards to¬
wards his Tail ; or may turn the
Pupil of the former ftraight up-
1 wards, whilft he looks downwards
with the other. Which peculiar
power leems to have been granted
him by Providence, that, being a
very low Animal, and deftinated
| to live for the moft part in Trees

and

(62)

and Bulihes, and there chiefly feed
on Fly?-; He may perceive them,
which way loever they chance to
come within the reach of his long
iTongue, by fuddenly darting out

of which, he catches his nimble
Prey.

Whereas it may be obferv’d,
that many or mod:, if not all, meer
Fifhes have the Chryftalline Hu¬
mours of their Eyes, alinoft fphe-
rical as to Senfc, and confequently
far more round than that Humour
is wont to be found in Man, and
other Terrcftrial Animals. This
difference of Figure, tho’ it would
be inconvenient in Us, does very
well accommodate Fifhes ; fince
they living in the .Water, which as
a thicker Medium, does much more
refract the Beams of Light, than
the Air through which they pals to
our Eyes ; ’twas fit, that the Chry¬
ftalline Humour of Fifhes fhould
be very Globous, that by the help
of their Figure, the Beams already

refra. .

m)

refra&ed by the Water, fhould be
yet fo much refraded and made
Convergent, as to Paint the Images
fo near, as upon the bottom of the
Eye.

V , O ; V X 1 5 ~ a

**** * V.- ^ i. J - ' • jl

*■* *’< , t

One that being Curious , had
more Opportunity than I have, to
Purvey and refiedl on the various
Structures of the Organs of Vifiori
in differing Animals , may , if I
miftake not, be able to find by com¬
paring them with the other parts
of the fame Animal, and the Scene
he is defign’d to aCf on, -and the
ules he is to make of his Eyes in
his moft ordinary Circumftances ;
fuch a Perfon, I lay, may be able
to offer a probable Realbn of feve- .
ral differences- in thofe Organs,
that, if commonly taken notice of,
would feem to the Cenforious to
be aberrations of Nature, or de¬
fers : To which purpofe I remem¬
ber, that an ingenious Cultivator
of Optieks, gives this Reafon, of
what both he and I, have taken

notice

(*4)

notice of ( tho’ it be ufually over
look’d) about the Figure of the Pu¬
pil ; namely, that, tho’ it be ob¬
long in Horles, Oxen, and divers
other Quadrupeds, as well as in
Cats, yet in the former kinds of
Animals, the Pupil lies tranfverf-
ly from the right fide of the Eye
to the left, but in Cats its fituati-
on is perpendicular ; whereof he
ingeniously gueiles the Reafon may
be, that Horles and Oxen, being
uliially to find their Food grow¬
ing on the Ground, they can more
conveniently receive the Images of
the laterally neighbouring Grafs,
&c. by having their Pupils tranf-
verfly plac’d ; whereas Cats, being
. to live* chiefly upon Rats and Mice,
which ar q Animals that ufually climb
up or run down Walls, and other
j'teep Places ; the commodioufefl:
fituation of their Pupil for readily
difcovering and following thele Ob¬
jects , was to be Perpendicular.
But ’tis time we proceed in our
Dilcourfe. /

Other

Other Inftances to the fame pur-
pole with this are elfewhere deli¬
ver’d : and therefore I fhall now,
to ftrengthen the Apology for Di¬
vine providence, take notice, that
the differing ftruftures and Situ¬
ations of the Eyes in feveral Ani¬
mals, are very fit to fhew the fe¬
cundity of theDivine Authors Skill,

I (if I may fo fpeak, ) in being able
j to frame lo great a Variety of ex-
i quifitelnftrumentsofVifion. And
1 indeed, if I may prefume toguefs
g at any of Gods Ends that are not
i manifeft, (for fome others of his
l Ends feem Confpicuous ;) I fhould
| think, that this delightful and won-
derfulVariety that we may obferve,
not only in Animals themfelves con-
| fider’d as entire Syftemes, but in
! thofe parts of them that appear de-
ffinated for the fame Funftion, as
particularly that of Seeing, was de-
i fign’d,at leaft among other Ends, to
difplay the multiplicity of the great
Creators Wildorn, and Shew his
intelligent Creatures, that his Skill

F is

( 66 )

is not confin’d to one fort of Living
Engines;nor in the parts of the fame
kind, ( as Eyes, Ears, T eeth, &c. )
to the fame Contrivances : but is
able to make for the fame ufe,a mul¬
titude of furprifing Organs or In-
ftrumentSjtho’not perhaps all equal¬
ly Perfect, ( fince to do fo, we may
think he muft make no Animals but
Men, ) yet all of them curious and
eXquifite in their kinds, and in or¬
der to their differing Ends. To be
able to frame both Clocks, and
Watches, and Ships, and Rockets,
and Granadoes, and Pumps, and
Mills, &c. argues and manifefts a
far greater Skill in an Artificer,
than he could difplay in making but
one of thole forts of Engines, how
artificially foever he contriv’d it.
And the lame ftperiority of know¬
ledge would be difplay’d, by con¬
triving Engines of the lame kind, or
for the lame purpoles after very dif¬
fering manners. As Weights indeed
are of great ufe and neceflity in the
famous Clock of Strafburg ; and

therefore

1*7 )

therefore it recommends the Inven¬
tors of Watches, not only that they
can make Clocks of a very little
and eafily portable Bulk, which the
Strafburg Machine is not, but can
make a Clock without weights, and
by means of a Spring perform
their Office. And thus,tho’ tp fly,
it leems ablblutely neceflary that
an Animal Ihould be furnifht with
Feathers; the Wile Creator hath
fhewn that he is not confin’d to
make ufe of them for that purpole :
flnce a Flying Fifh is able to move
a great way in the Air ; and the
Indies have lately furnifllt us with
a fort of flying Squirrils ( whereof
I law one alive at White-Hall. )
And tho’ the flight of thele is not
long, yet there is another kind of
Animals without Feathers that can
fly long enough, namely the Batt ;
tho’ lome of thele, as I have feen,
be little lels then Hens : and I have
been alfurd by a credible Eye-wit-
nels, that in the kingdom of Gol-
eonda , He had leen much bigger.

F 2 But

( «S )

But thp* this confident ion may
fuffice to juftify the Wifdom of the
Creator, who being an Agent mod
Free, as well as moftWife; Men
ought not to find fault, if he think
fit to Recommend his Wifdom by
difplaying it in very different man¬
ners : yet this is not all that may
be (aid on this occafion. For there
are many Cafes, and perhaps far
more than we imagine, wherein the
peculiar, and in fome regards lefs
perfeQ:, fabrick or fituation of an
Eye or other Organical part, may be
more convenient than the corref-
pondent Organ of Man, to attain
the Ends for which was given to an
Animal that was to a£t upon fuch
a Theatre, and live by fuch Provi-
fion. Befides that an Organical part
may, infcme Animals, be intended
for more ufes than in others, and
therefore may require a differing
ftruQure ; as in Moles, the Feet are
otherwife fram’d or fituated than
in other Quadrupeds; becaufethe
chief ule they were to make of

them

them was to walk upon the Ground,
but to Dig themfelves ways Under
Ground. The provident
wifely fluting the Fabrick of the
Parts, to the Ufes that were to be
made of them: as amechanifl im-
ploys another Contrivance of his

when he is to

W heels, Pinions, e£
grind corn with a Mill that is to be
driven by Water, than when he is
to do the fame thing by a Mill that
is to be mov’d by*the Wind. And
the Camelion has a Tongue, both
pecurliarly fhap’d, and of a length
difproportionate to that of his Body,
becaufe he was to take his Prey, by
/hooting out ( if I may fo fpeak )his
Tongue at the Flies he was to live
upon, and could not often approach
them very near without frighting
them away. And in many Cafes
in which this Reflection does notfb
properly take place, we may ob-
lerve , that there is a wonderful
Compenfation made, for that which
feems a defeCt in the parts of an
Animal of this or that particular fpe*

F z Gtes*

(' 7° )

ties, compar’d with the correfpon*
dent ones of a Man, or ah Animal
of fome other /pecks.

Thus Birds, that (except the Bat
and one or t wo more ) want Teeth
to chew their food, are not only fur-
niffi’d with hard Bills to break it ;
and Birds of prey, as Hawks, &c.
. — with crooked ones to tear it ; but.
Which is more confiderable, have
- Crops to prepare and (often it, and
very ftrong Mufcular Stomachs to
digeft and grind it : In which work
they are ulually help’d by gravel
and little ftones that they are led by
InftinCt to fwallow, and which are
often found ( and fomethnes in a-
mazing numbers, )in their Stomachs
where they may prove a vicarious

kind of Teeth.

\ *

I fhall hereafter have occafion to
fay lomewhat more againfi: Their
Opinion, that find fault with thole
Animated Structures that we think
to be Productions of the Divine
W ifdom, under pretence that the
>v Parts

T,- ■ 1 * i - - * y

(7* )

Parts of fbme living Creatures are
not fo curious and Symmetrical,as
npt to have been cafually produci¬
ble. Butin the mean time, I fhall
here note, for thofe that afcribefo
much to Chance \ that Chance is
really no natural Caufe or Agent,
but a Creature of Man’s Intelled.
For the things that are done in the
Corporeal World, are really done
by the parts of the Univerfal Mat-
ter, afting and foffering according
to the Laws of Motion, eftablifh’d
by the Author of Nature. But
we Men , looking upon fome of
thefe parts asdire£ted in their Mo¬
tions by God, or at lea ft by Na¬
ture , and diipos’d to the attain¬
ment of certain Ends if by the
intervention of other Caufes, that
we are not aware of, an Effeft be
produc’d very differing from that
which we fuppos’d was intended;
we fay ., that fuch an E ffe& was
produc’d by Chance. So that
Chance is indeed but a Notion of
Ours, and fuch a thing as a School-

F 4 man

♦ *

(70

man might call an Extrinfecal De«
nomination, and dignifies but this ;
that in our appyehenfions, the Phy¬
sical Carnes of an Effect, did not
Intend the ProduQdon of what they
nevertheless produc’d. And there¬
fore I wonder not, that the Philo*
fophers that preceded Ariftotle ,
Ihould not treat of Chance, among
4 Natural Caufes ; As we may learn

from Ariftotle himfelf ; who is
more juft to Them in Sufpefting
they own’d not fuch a Caufe, than
in Taxing them of an Omiilion for
not having Treated of it.

' , * 4 ' f ' t r A

W ’ ' . \ * ■* +■* \ J t # ( ■ "

And on this occafion, I fhall on¬
ly add , before I proceed , that
whereas fome of the moft curiouF
ly fhap’d kind of Stones, as the
Aftroites , have embolden’d many
of the Favourers of Epicurus , to
bring them into Competition with
thele Animals , or Parts of Ani¬
mals, from their iikenefs to which,
they have receiv’d their Names ;
jt is fit to be confider’d, Firjt, that

fome

/

r

-V

feme Learned Men have of late
made it very probable, that fome
of the curiouleft forts of thele
Stones were once really the Ani¬
mals whole Chapes they bear, or
thole Parts of Animals which they
refomble ; which Animal fubftances
were afterwards turned into Stonesf
by thefupervening of fbme Petre-
foent Matter, or Petrifying Caufe ;
of which Metamorphojis I have met
with , and do ellewhere mention,
more In fiances than are fit to be
fo much as named in this place. Se¬
condly , Though fome of thofe forts of
Stones were the Production of the
Mineral Kingdom ; ( for I will not
be Dogmatical in this Point) yet,
befides that it would not clearly
follow, that they owe their Chapes
to Chance, fince there is no absur¬
dity to admit Seminal Principles in
fome more elaborate forts of Fo£
files ; I think it would be very
injurious to make thefe Producti¬
ons vye with the Animals,to which
ithey are Compared,

For

(74)

For the Refemblance of Chapes,
wherein alone they and the Ani¬
mals Agree, being but the Outward
Figure, is but a Superficial thing,
and not Worthy to be mention’d,
in companion of that wherein they
differ : The rude and flight (Contex¬
ture of the beft fhap’d Stones,
being incomparably inferior to the
Internal contrivance of an Animal ;
which muff: confift of a multitude
of Parts, of luch a Figure, Bulk,
Texture, Situation, &c. as cannot
but be obvious to any that have
feen DilMHons skilfully made.
And “ds not only in the Stable and
Quiefeent parts, that this great In¬
ternal Difference between Stones,
and the Animals they relemble,is to
be foudd ; but there is in a Living
Animal’ a greater difference, thana-
ny of t-he Knives of Abatomifts can
fhev/ u§ in a Deadline betwixt a
Stone, tho’never lb curibuflyFigur’d,
and an Animal.For therfe are,I know
not ho(v many, Liquors, Spirits,
pigeftions, Secretions, Coagulati¬
ons,

( 7 <> )

ftions, and Motions of the whole
Body, and of the Limbs and other
parts, which are lodged and per-
I form’d in a Living Body, and not
in a Cadaver ; and are perchance
far more admirable, even than the
ftruClureof the liable and quiefeent
Parts themfelves. So that, tho’ a
Stone, outwardly very like a Shell-
fifh, were made by Chance ; yet
from thence to Conclude, that
Chance may make a real Living
Shell-filh, w'ould be to argue worfe
than he that fhould contend, that,
becaufe even an unskilful Smith
may make a hollow piece of Metal,
like a Watch Cafe, tho’ he can fill
it but with filings of Iron, or feme
other rude Stuff, he muff be able
to make a Watch ; there being lels
difference betwixt the skill ex-
prels’d in making the Cafe of a
Watch, and the Movement, than
in making a Body like a Shell, and
the Internal parts of a real Fifh :
Or to fey, that, becaufe Putrefa¬
ction and Winds, have lometimes

made

I •’ !»

(76)

* " **, 4? f •

made Trees hollow, and blown
them down into the Water, where
they fwim like Boats, therefore the
like Caufes may make a Galley
built andcontriv’d, as well withinas
without, according to the Laws of
Naval Architefhire, and furnifli’d
with Mariners to Row it, Steer it,
and, m a word, to excite and guide
all its Motions to the beft Advan-.
tage, for the Preservation and va¬
rious llfes of the VeiTel. Infhort,
if Chance, fbmetimes does fome
itrange things, \is in reference to
what She her felf \ but not to what
Nature, ules to perform.*

And now, to give you the Sum¬
mary of my Thoughts, about the
Second Queilion >* i . I think, that
from the Ends and llfes of the
Parts of Living Bodies, the Natu-
ralift may draw Arguments, pro¬
vided he do it with due Cautions,
ot which I fhall fpeak under the
fourth Queilion. 2. That the In¬
animate Bodies here below , that

pro-

proceed not from Seminal Princi¬
ples, have but a more parable Tex¬
ture, ( if I may fo (peak) as Earths,
Liquors, Flints, Pebbles, and will
not eafily warrant Ratiocinations,
drawn from their fuppoled Ends.
3. I think, the Cceleftial Bodies
do abundantly declare God’s Power
and Greatnels, by the Immenfity
of their Bulk, and ( if the Earth
Hand (fill) the Celerity of their
Motions, and alfo argue his Wi£
dom and general Providence as to
them ; becaufe He has for lb many
Ages, kept fo many vail Vortices ,
or other Maffes of Matter, in Icarce
conceivably rapid Motions , with¬
out deftroying one another, or
loofing their Regularity. And I
lee no Abfurdity in fuppofing, that,
among other Ules of the Sun, and
of the Stars , the Service of Man
might be intended ; but yet I
doubt, whether, from the bare
Contemplation of the Heavens and
their Motions, it may be cogently
inferred, at lead fo ftrongly as Fi¬
nal

(?8)

. %

ml Caules, may be from the ftru-
&ure of Animals, that either the
foie, or the chief, End of them all,
is to enlighten the Earth, and
bring Benefits to the Creatures that
live upon it. - j

* I a J \J kA -4 % . J. » *

In what has been hitherto laid
on our Second Queftion, ’tis plain*
that I fuppofe the Naturalift to difc
courfe meerly upon Phyfical
Grounds. But if the Revelations,
contain’d in the Holy Scriptures , be
admitted , wje may rationally be-
heve Mare, and fpeafe lets Hssfi-
tantly, of the Ends of God, than
bare Philofophy will warrant us to
do. For, Jf^ God is pleafed to de¬
clare to us any thing concerning
His Intentions , in the making of
his Creatures, we ought to believe
it ; tho* the Confideration of the
things themlelves, did notgive us
the leaf! fufpicionof it; which yet
in our cafe they do. And therefore
a late Ingenious Author did cauP
leftly reflect upon me, for having

men-

( 79 )

mention’d the Enlightning of thsi
•Earth , and , the Service of Men,
among the Ends of God, which
he thought undifcoverable by us.
For whether or no we can difcover
them by meer Reafon, as divers of
the Heathen Philofophers thought
they did ; yet fare we may know
Thdfe that God is pleas’d to Reveal
to us : And the Perfons, I argu d
with, were apparently fach as ad¬
mitted the Authority of the Scrip-
tures; which exprefly teach
us, that God made the two Gen.i.i&
great Luminaries , ( for lb I
lhould render the Hebrew words
tn'nrn m&nn wn« ) the greater
for the rule of the Day , and the lef-
fer for the rule of the Night . And
that He made the Stars alfo , and let
them in the Firmament, or rather
Expanfum of the Heaven, to give
Light upon the Earth . And a little
above, among the Ufes of the Lu¬
minaries thefe ate rec¬
kon’d, to divide the Day ver*

from

y

%

s

>

. (So)

from the Nighty and to he for Signs ,
and for Seaf on si and for Days and
Tears . And in another place, the
Prophet Mofes dehorting the lira*
elites from Worfhiping the Sun,
the Moon, and the Stars, tells them,
that the Lord, had im -
Deut. 4. 19. parted them unto all na*
tions under the whole Hea¬
ven. And therefore thole Carte •
fans y that being Divines, Admit
the Authority of Holy Scripture ;
fliould not rejeft the Confideration
, of fiich Final Caufes, as Revelation
difcoversto us; fince ’tis certainly
no prefumption to think we know
Cods Ends, when he himfelf ac¬
quaints us with them ; nor to be-
leive that the Sun, tho’ it be gene¬
rally efteem’d to be a nobler Body
than the Terreftrial Globe, was
made , among other Purpofes, to
give Light to its Inhabitants. ’Tis

recorded in the Book of
Gen.j.26,27, Qenejjs^ the Defign of

God in making man,
was, that men fhould Subdue the

' Earth

IP

(*i)

Earth ( as vaft a Globe as kis ) and
have dominion over the Fifl? of the
Sea, and over the Forvle of the Air ,
and over the Cattle , and over alt the
Earth , and ( to fpeak Summarily }
truer every living thing that
moveth upon the Earth . And Gen 9. 23,
the fame Book informs uf,
that after the Deluge, God deliver'd
all 7 errejtrial Beafis , and Forvle , and
Fifhes , and every moving thing that
lives , into the hands of Men ; and
intended that they fhould
eat Animals, as before the ocn. i. a?.

Flood, He had appointed
them all the forts of wholfome Ve-
getables for their Food. And lince
Cod was pleafod to appoint that ](J4
men fhould live on thele Creatures, j

it cannot be abfurd to fay, that, a- f\ ' - : :
mong other Purpofes to which he ;
deftinated the Sun , His Shining
upon the Earth was one ; lince with¬
out His Light and Heat, men cou'd
not provide for , or enjoy them-
felves ; and neither thole Plants
that Men and Cattel muft live upon,

G could

i f

> /

fUL-i

could 'grow^and ripen ; nor (con-
lequently ) thole Animals that were
to.be their principal Pood, and lerve
them for many other ules, could be
fuftainM and provided for. Many
other Texts that fhow, how much
God was pleas’d to intend mans wek.
fare,andDominion:over many ofhis
Fellow*creatures, might be here al-
ledg’d. But I fhaJJ| content my (elf
to mention, what theKingly Prophet

; ... , 'iiayes in :the 8 th Pfalm,
p/^/.8.$6. where fpeaking of Man

• to his Maker, he fayes*;
Thou baft made him, a little lower than l
the Angels, and haft zr own'd him with :•
G lory and [Honour.. Than mad'jl him
to have dominion over the works of
thine hands , and ha ft) put 'all things un¬
der his Feet- Indeed i f in Mamwei
confider only that Vifible Part, his
Body ; the Imallnefsrbf it may make
it thought improbable, that Portions
of the llniverfe incomparably great¬
er than He,fhould be at all intended
to be ferviceable to Him. But Chri-
ftians ought not to think this incre-

• J dible,

chiefly) conlftts of a Rational Mind ;
'which proceeds immediately from
God ^ and is capable of knowing
him, toying him, and being Eternal
ly happy with him. They that deP
pile Man coniider’d in this capacity *
do very little know the worth of a
Rational Soul ; andeftimate things
like Mafbns, and not like Jewellers,
who juftly value a Diamond no big*
ger than a Bean, more than a whole
Quarry of ordinary Stones* .And
particularly to thofe Undervaluers
oftheirown Specks that are Divines ;
it may be reprefented,that God, who
will nqt be deny’d to be the beft
Judge in this cafe, as in all others ;
was pleas’d toconfiderMen fbmuch,
as to give David caufe to admire it
in the words lately cited ; and not
only to endow them with his Image
at their firft Creation, but when
they had criminally loft and forfei¬
ted it, he vouchfaf’d to Redeem them
by no lefs than the Sufferings and
Death of his own Son ; w ho is in-

G2 compa-

/

(s4)

comparably more excellent than the
whole World. And’tis not incredL*
blethat God fhould have intended,
that many of his other works fhould
be ferviceable to Man ; fihce by
Miraculous Operations he hath fbme
times Sufpended the Laws of Na-
ture,and fbmetimes Over rul’dthem,
upon the account of Man : as may
appear by Noahs Flood ; by the pa L
fage of the Ifraelites on dry Land
through the Red Sea, and the River
of Jordan ; by the lfanding (fill of
the Sun and Moon (or the Tereftrial
Globe) at Jofhua's command \ by the
in efficacy of the burning Fiery Fur¬
nace, on Daniels three Companions ;
and (to be fhort) ^the ftupendious
Ecclipfe of the Sun at the full Moon,
at the Crucifixion of the Meffia s.
To which I might add, that the chief
part of Mankind, namely the ChiL
dren of God , will by their moft
bountiful Remunerator, be thought
fit to inhabit the Nev World ( for
that by an Hebraifm is meant by
the new Heavens and the new Earth

St.

St. Pefer {peaks ofj which

lhall fucceed the Renova- i h *

tion and Refinement of

the Prefent World by the lad Fire,

that will not only Diffolve, but, if I

may fo lb {peak, Transfigure it.

And we fhall the lefs Icruple to
admit that fuch vaft and bright
Bodies as the Sun and Moon, may
be defign’d ( among other things )
to be ferviceable to Men ; if we con-
fider, that ’tis fo far from being a
conftant Rule, That a Thing more
excellent cannot ( by a wife Agent )
be imploy’d for the good of one that
is lefs (o ; that not only the firft
Angel whofe Apparition
we read of in the Scrip- £5^16.9.
ture, was lent to relieve
Hagary a Slave wandring in a Wil-
dernefs ; another had regard to the
life of a Sooth- Payers
AiTe ; and many others Nmb- 22 • 2 ?•
(and fbme times Com- Vicing 6^
panies of them ) we e
imployd on Earth to do good OiE-

G $ ces

( e<n

ces to particular perfons but of alj
the Angels in general ; the Excel¬
lent Epiftle to to the He-
mb. 1. 14. brews informs us, That
they are Mini firing Spi¬
rits , fent forth to Mimfier unto them
who Jball be Heirs of Salvation.

\ W y

: rr ; 2 / < - « » >

A

t

JU

AT :

k \ <■ .

*rr <1

— ■

1 i

II I w

u

SECT.

l JyJ

■a k

4 viz. whether ,
and in what fenfe ,
fife Aching for
Ends may be afcri-
bed to an VninteU
ligent , and. even
Inanimate Body ?

O handle the Third Que-

_ ftion, f It will be neceiia'

ry for us to dear
the grand Difficulty
that has, ever fince
Jrifiotles time, and
even before that ,

Perplex’d thole that
allow in Natural
ral Philofophy , the Confideration
of Final Caufes. The Difficulty is
obvious enough: For, much the
greater part of Bodies being void
of Knowledge, and moft ot them
( as all Inanimate Bodies ) of Life
it felf , it feems not conceivable,
how they fhould ad conftantly for
Ends, they are not capable of prede-
figning;and appofitely imploy Means

G 4 that

, 7

that they have no Knowledge
wherewith to make choice of,

vid. A'iftot. De
Coelo, lib. II. c\<j.
& eund. De Gen.
& Interim lib U.

\cap. io.

Arijlotk, who exprefly teaches,
that Nature does nothing in vain,
and rightly judg’d, that the A&i--

ons of Natural A-
gents tended to cer¬
tain Ends, takes no.
tice of this Difficul¬
ty ; but leems rather
to Shift it off than
Relblveit ; The Solution he frames
regarding lo peculiarly the Words
wherein he hasexprels’d the Ob-
jettion, that I much doubt, whe¬
ther it would fignifie much to clear
the lame Difficulty propos’d in
other Terms. And to me he leems
to Ipeak fo darkly, not only in his
Tranflators Latine , but in his own
Greek , that, if he have given a
good Solution of the Difficulty, I
muft ingenuoufly confels my Dull-
nefs, in not being ab}e to under¬
hand it.

Put,

But, to confider the Difficulty it
felf, there are two Accounts, on
which the Aft ions of natural A*
gents maybe laid to tend to a cer¬
tain End : One, when the Agent
has a Knowledge of that End, and
ads with an Intention to obtain it ;
as, when a man ihoots an Arrow
to hit a mark: The Other is, when
the Aftion of the Proximate A-
gent, is indeed fo direfted as it
ought to be to obtain an End, and
yet that End is neither Known nor
Intended by the Proximate Agent,
blit by a Remoter Agent that is In*
telligenr. In the former of thele
Senles, I cannot admit that (not
now to Examine whether any Liv¬
ing, but not Rational, Works of Na¬
ture May ) any Inanimate Bodies
Can, ad for an End; for, todofo,
prefuppoles, that the Agent both
Knows the End he is to attain, and
Purpoles to attain it ; which are
things whereof Inanimate Bodies
are uncapable. And to fancy with

Lome

(9°)

lome, that they may have a Know¬
ledge fat generii ( as they {peak, )
which, tho’ confin’d to the aftions
proper to this or that particular
kind of Body, is yet fufficiertttode-
termine to thole A&ions ; is to of¬
fend againft that rational and re¬
ceiv’d Rule of Philofophizing, En-
ti.i non fmt multiplicands fine necef-
jitate, and to introduce a fort of
Knowledge, which I fear the Pro-
polers do not well conceive ; or at
leaft, I am fure I do not. “ •

:;a 'u ■ i bud
It remains then, that I embrace
the fecond Senfe, in which we for¬
merly laid, that Natural things may
be iaid to to work for an End ; tho’
indeed in this Cafe, we muftfpeak
feme what improperly :For,by him
that Confiders, the Action will be
oftentimes mqreajuftty attributed
to the Intelligent, but Remoter, than
to the Immediate, Agent, which
is but, as ifwere, the Inftrument of
the other. But how this is poflible
to done,; appears difficult to be ex-

plain’d,

(:9» )

plain’d, Tp meitfeems, it may
be thus conceiv’d : The moil Wile
and Powerful Author of Nature,
whofe peircing fight is able to pene¬
trate the whole Univerfe, & fiirvey
all the parts of it at once, did at the
Beginning of Th ings, Frame things
Corporeal into fuch a Syftem, and
Settled among them fuch Laws of
Motion, as he judg’d futable to the
Ends he propos’d to Himlelf,in ma¬
king the World. And as by vertue
of his vaft and boundlefs Intelle£b
that he at firfl: imploy’d,he was able
not only to See the Prefent State
of things he had made, but to Fore¬
fee all the EfFefts, that particular
Bodies fo and fb qualify’d, and
a£bing according to the Laws of
Motion by him eftablifh’d, could
in fuch and fuch circumftances,have
on one another : So by the lame
Omnifcient Power, he was able to
contrive the whole Fabrick, and all
the parts of it, infuch manner, that,
whilft his general Concourfe main¬
tain’d the Order of Nature, each

(?2) !

Part of this great Engine, the Worth
Ihould without either Intention or
Knowledge, as regularly and con*
ftantly A£t towards the attainment
of the refpe&ive Ends which he de-
fignM them for , as if themlelves
really underftood, and induftrioufly
profecuted, thofe Ends. Juft as in
a well made Clock, the Spring, the
Wheels, the Ballance, and the other
parts, tho* each of them Aft accor¬
ding to the Impulfes it receives,
and the Determination that is given
it, by the other pieces of the En¬
gine, without knowing what the
Neighbouring Parts, or what them-
felvesdo; yet their Tendencies are
Jb Determin’d, and (ometimes Over¬
rul’d ,and theirMorionslb Quickn’d,
by the ftru&ure of the Clock, that
they would not moye more conve¬
niently , nor better perform the
Funftions of a Clock, if they knew
that they were to make the Index >
truly mark the Hours , and intended
to make it do fo. ’Tis true, that

*tis not eafie to conceive how One

* » A

(93 )

Agent fliould, by lb fimplean In*
ftrument as Local motion, be able to
Direft a Multitude of Agents, as nu¬
merous as the Bodies that make up
a World, to Aft as regularly, as if
each of them Afted upon its own
particular Defign, and yet all of
them Confpir’d to obey the Laws of
Nature. But if we confider, that
*tis to God, that is an Omnilcient
and Almighty Agent, that thisGreat
J Work is alcrib’d, we lhall not think
it incredible ; elpecially if we con¬
fider, that, whereas ’tis manifelt
enough, that a Multitude of Bo¬
dies Aft, as we have fiippos’d ; if we
will not alcribe the Direftion and
Superintendence of the Motions,
that are manifeftly fitted for the

! attainment of Ends, unto God, we
muft do it to Nature;which will not
Leffen but Increafe the Difficulty:
And when I have leen,as lometimes
I have with plealure, a great En¬
gine, wherein the Works of I know
not how many Trades, and a great
many other Motions, were perform¬
ed

(94)

ed by little Puppets, that manag’d
the Tools of the Artificers ; and all
thefe were leta work by oneSpring,
which communicated Motions that
were regulated and determined by
the particular ftrudture of the little
Statues and other Bbdfes t; when, I
fay, I confider fuch things as thefe*
I cannot think it impofli-
fab. xi* xoi ble that the Divine and
Great &nm p^as bothPhi-
lofbphers and lacred Writers have
ftyl’d the Worlds Creator; fhould
be able by the Motions and Struc¬
tures of Matter, to feta work very
many Partial and Subordinate En¬
gines. For ’twill not, I hope, be de-
ny’d, that the Multitude : of Thefe
does not any thing near. lb much fur-
pafs the number of Thofe, which I
law in the hand of an illiterate
Tradefmari, as the Narrow Know¬
ledge of that Artificer isfurpaft’d
by the Bound! els Underftanding of
anOfririifeientAr iffc. And’tis more ,
in the making fb rniny and fo vari¬
ous Bodys a£t according to their

par-

f • ( 5>5 )

particular Defignations,& yet all of
diem Coni pire to the General Ends
of the Univerle, that GodsWildom,
and ( if I may fo fpeak ) his Skill
isdilplay’d, barely in the mak¬

ing Bodies A£t Appofitely for Ends
to themlelves Unknown. For, if
Moving Bodies be duly difplay’d,
and have a fufficicnt connexion,
’tis not difficult to Direft a few of
them to the attainment of an End
propos’d by an Underftanding A-
gent,tho’ Unknown to the Immedi¬
ate Agents : As anciently among
the Jewifh Husband-men, f and at
this day in lbme parts of the Eaft )
the Ox, that intended no fueh mat¬
ter, did by Treading the Corn as-
well Separate the Grain from the
Straw, as our Plowmen, do; when
they tlirefh it purpolely to make
that Separation : And a Horle or an
Als in a Mill, may as well by his
going round Grind the Corn, as the
Miller himlelf could do.

. - - - Nor »

,;u:

Nor is this Do&rine incontinent
with the beleif of any True Mirule j
for, it fuppoles the Ordinary and
Settled Courle of Nature to be
maintain’d , without at all deny¬
ing, that the moft Free and Power¬
ful Author of Nature is able, when¬
ever he thinks fit, to Sulpend, Alter,
or Contradi& tholeLaws of Motion,
which He alone at firft Eftablilh’d,
and which need His perpetual Con-
courle to be Upheld*

* ) . ,, -» V \ r v /; \ * ‘J \ * ' ' *

The Laws of Method would ob¬
lige me to conclude here this Setti-
on, and pals on to another : But
in regard that all I thought my lelf
oblig’d to lay about it, leaves it lo
very Ihort, as to be very Difpro-
portionate in Bulk to the other Se¬
ctions of this Dilcourle;I will crave
leave to lengthen it in this place,
with Something,which, tho’ it may
be judg’d to belong more properly
to Another, will not perhaps be
thought to be impertinent Here ;

(*i)

and much lefs to be ufelefs to the
defign of this Difcourfe.

Here then you may pleafe to take
notice, that in all that I have diF
cours’d in the fecond Section, or
may elfe where have occafion to lay,
againfl: the receiv’d Opinion, that
the whole material World, was made
for Man\ I would not be under¬
stood to fpeak either too dogmati¬
cally, or too exclufively : my de¬
fign being to deliver, what I thought
might probably be reprelented, to
take off the Prejudice, that Men are
generally prepofsels’d with in their
| own favour, - For, thd* the Argu-
j ments I alledge Againft the vulgar
j Opinion, feem as yet to me more
probable than thole I have hitherto
met with For it, efpecially as it re-
i dates to the vaft Cseleftial Region
of the World ; yet I am not only wil-
lingto grant, that, among the Ends
i defign’d by the Authour of Nature
in fever al of his Works, efpecially
Plants’, Animals and Metals, the

H “ Utility

V

(82)

Utility of men may be one, and per¬
haps one of the principal : but I am
not averle from thinking, that Hu¬
mane Ends, ( or Ufes that relate
to Men, ) may have been defign’d
by God in leveral Creatures, whofe
Humane Vfes Men are not yet aware
of : And that he may have intend¬
ed, that of leveral of his Creatures,
whereof Men do already know, and
make fome Ufes, they fhall hereaf¬
ter dilcover other Utilities, and
perhaps nobler Ones.

Thole that refle£t on the Provi¬
dence of God, whilft they repre-
fent what they call , Nature as a
Step-mother to Man , whom She
brings Naked, Toothlels, and Help-
lefs into the World; whilft She
furnifhes the new Born FcctuPs of
Brutes with Wooll or other Cloth- *
ing, and both with a Power to
Walk and Seek their Food, and ( as
to many of them) with Teeth to
Eat it : Thole men, Ilay, have been
long ago anfwer’d by the Eloquent

La cl an-

of Providence. And therefore I fhall
only add this, that God by giving
Man Neceffity and Reafon, has ef-
feftually Excited him, and richly
Furnifht Him with Ability , to
procure for himfelf far greater Ac¬
commodations and Advantages ,
than thole Beafts come into the
world with; and by vouchsafing him
that Noble Faculty of Underftand-
ing, He has put it in his Powder to
convert to his own ule thole very
^JThings, for which Profane Wits
would have the Condition of Beafts
preferable to His. For Man, by his
Realon imploying skilfully luch
Admirablelnftrumentsas hisHands,
is able to Mafter and Apply to his
own Ules, the fiercenels of feverai
Wild Beafts, as Leopards ( wLich
the Perfians Hunt with, ) the vaft
ftrength of Elephants, the huge bulk
of Whales, the Sagacity of Spaniels,
Hounds, and Setters, the Swiftnels
of Grey-FIounds , the * Suttlety of
Tumblers, and ^eFurs of Beavers,

H 2 Martins,

Martins, &c. To omit a Multitude
of others, which God, by the fingle
Gift of Reafon to Man, has inabled
him to mafter and make ule of to
his own advantage. And tho’ at
firfl: he be helplefs enough, and un¬
able to exerciie his Dominion over
inferiour Creatures ; yet God has
fufficiently provided for Him, by
giving his Parents whilft he needs
them, that wyn Natural affeftionfor
Him, which engages them to take
care of him, till he be in a condition
to take care of himfelf ; and beconw
qualify’d to obtain fuch knowledge
and Induftry, as may make him Pof
felfor of the advantages, whereof
his Indulgent and Bountiful Crea-
tour made him capable.

Thole Moderns that think it re-
diculousto Imagine, that, in fram¬
ing iiich Vaft Bodies as the Earth,
and ibme of the Cseleftial Globes,
their Creatonr fhould have any Re¬
gard to fb final! a Part of the Earth
as Man , and defign’d that They

fhould

I

(85 )

I

fhould be Ibme way or other ler-
viceable to him, look upon Things
rather as Surveyers , who confider
mainly their Extent, than as Philo -
fophers,(t\m Eftimate them by their
Intrinfick Value. For tho’ it be true,
that Man confider’dbarely asan Ani¬
mal^ a Creature little enough to be
Contemptible; yet as He is endow’d
with a Soul Immaterial, Rational,
and Immortal, he is a Creature much
more Noble and Excellent than the
whole Terraqueous Globe , or a
much vafter Mafle of Corporeal
Subftarice that is Stupid and Inani¬
mate. For the Rational tSW iscapa-
of Underftanding and Willing,
(which are higher Faculties than
meer Matter can reach to)- and
which is more/rf Knowing, Serving
and Enjoying God. And Man being
the only Vifible Creature, that is
capable toUnderftand the Wifdom,
Power, and Beneficence of God in
the Creation, and in many ways to
Subdue a great Variety of the other
Creatures, and Apply them to his

Hj Ufes :

(86)

Ufes : it ought not to feem ftrangc,
that the Wife Author of the Uni-
verie, that made all things fo as to
bring Glory to himfelf, fhould have
a more efpecial regard to fo Noble
a Piece oflhs Workmanlhip,than tq
any, that being meerly Corporeal,
can neitherUnderftand hisWifdom
and his Power , nor Render him
thanks nor Praifes for the Manifold
and admirable Effefts of them.
And that Lictleneft that is all-edged.-
to make Man a Contemptible Crea¬
ture, is fo far from being a Difpa-
jagement to that Noble part of him,
the Soul, which makes him a Man,
that is , a Rational Creature ; that
its Excellency confifts in being left
than the Minuteft Body ; Since not
having Extenfion,it is not Divifible ;
which is the Prerogative of Subftan-
ces, which, for that reafon, are Im¬
material and Immortal.

■' •» ' W * * f '• r ’V ,

This mention of the HumanMind
leads me to a further Reflexion ,
which is, That many parts of the

’ Material

Material World, whereof Man has
not been known to make any ad¬
vantage, in the Capacity of a meer
Animal, may yet be highly ufeful to
him, as he is a Rational Creature ,
that is, Capable, by Contemplating
the great and Admirable Works of
God, to Raife his Mind to the ac¬
knowledgment of the Divine Ar¬
chitects Power, Wildom, and Bene¬
ficence, and thereby Find produc’d
in him due Sentiments of Venerati-
on^Gratitude and Love. And Thele
may be fafely reckon’d among thole
Ends or Ufes, which in the firft Sec¬
tion we have Styl’d Human Ones ;
Since lome of the Heathen Philofb-
phers themlelves call’d the World
a Temple , and one of the more Phi-
lolbphical Fathers of the Church
loftily Styles it,W<&7

4vpg3V KoyMV tfiJkrx. et^wv

And indeed we find,that the Pfal-
rfiift alone may furnifh us with di¬
vers Inftances to our
prefent purpofe. For Pfti.xix. 1,2,3.

not only He teaches us

H 4

(88 )

I *

that the Heavens declare the Glory of
Gody and that in a Language, that,
notwithstanding what happen’d at
Babel, reaches to all the Nations of
the World ; but He imploys the
Contemplation of Gods Vifible
Works, to excite in himlelf and o-
thers true Sentiments, both oF De*
yotion and of particular Vertues.

Thus theConlideration
Fs.cxxxix. 14. of his having been won -

derfully form'd in his
Mothers Womb, moves Him toRe-
. , vereand Celebrate the

outejpeciaiiy v.24. admirable Skill of the

Qpificer. Ellewhere
the Confideration of the Regular
Viciffitudes oblervable in the courfe
of Nature, invite him to Admire and
Extoll the Providence of God. And
when in another place, He beholds
thole Vaft Bodies and
pfa. viij. 3. 4, Shining Ones, that corn-
pole and adorn the Coe-
leftial part of the World, he juftly
falls into* Sentiments of great.

Humility and deferved Grati¬
tude.

And as to This Ule, the Diftance ;
and Vaftnefs of thefixt Starrs,thelm-
menfity of the Heavens, and the Re¬
gular Motion of the Superiour Pla¬
nets , ( fuppofing they can bring-
Man no other advantage ) may do
him good Service ; fince they afford
him Rational and Solid Grounds to
believe, admire, adore, and obey
the Deity. For by thus Spirituali¬
zing (if I may lb (peak,! the Corpo¬
real worksof God, there may accrew
to the Pious Soul, Ufes far more va¬
luable than they can afford the Bo-
dy;fince they will Perfeftionate the
Mind here, and Continue to be ad-
vantagious to it , when the Body
will not need the World, and the
World it felf, as to its prefent Con-
Aitution, fhall be deAroy’d.

4 •- * f i • ... , nr:

But to proceed from this Ufe of
the W orld, which is Theological, to
a Humane life . that is more Phy-
' ' Heal-

(P°) r

lical, as relating to the prefent wel¬
fare of Man, as he is an Animal, as
well as a Rational Creature : I fball
reprefent That,*# a Nation is often¬
times, in the account of Providence,
confider’d as one Man , notwith-
ftanding Its various difperfions, and
perhaps long continuance ; as the
Ilraelitifh People, during many A-
ges, notwithftanding its Diyifions
and Captivities, was addrefs’d to
and treated, by the Prophets and
Apoftles commiflion’d by,God,asone
Perlbn.nam’d Ifrael,whom God lom-
times in the Scripture is pleas’d to
- . , call his Son: fo perhaps
•jr»/. it I*' ' it will not be abliird to
conceive , that Mankind
it felf may in lome regards, or as to
feme pin- poles, be loofet upon by its
Author as one 'Man, who, by SuC-
eeilive - Improvements of his know¬
ledge, may from time to time be
enabled to make Hew and confide-
rable Ules of. the things > .that the
Wife and. bountiful Providence of
his Maker had fram’d, with a Fore-

' fight

(90

fight that he would, and with In¬
tention that he might , make them
advantagious to him. And therefore
it cannot lafely be concluded That
every thing whole Ufefulnefs to
Man is not yet obvious, nay. That
every thing that feems hurtful to
him, can never be made beneficial
to him. For we lee that Opium wTas
for many ages look’d on only as a
Poylbn , but now is imploy’d as a
Noble Remedy, ( as indeed it is, if
skilfully prepar’d & Judicioully ex¬
hibited) in many Violent,and often¬
times Dangerous, Diftempers. Vipers
are Venemous Animals; but yet their
Tlefh is a main Ingredient of that
famous Antidote Treacle ; and be¬
ing in great part Dilfolv’d m Tra£fc
of Time in good Spanifh Wine, I
have try’d it with Surprizing Suc-
cels, in an uncommon and very dif¬
ficult Cafe. Scorpions allb afford,
by bare Infulion, an Oyl that not
only Cures their own Stings, but is
very available in feveral Diftem¬
pers. And I remember, that a learn¬
ed

(92 )

ed ProfeiTor of Padua , having Cured
the Widow of a Soveraigne Prince
of a Fit of the Stone, anfwer’d me
lome few Days after, that the chief
Remedy helmploy’d and Rely?d on,
was a Preparation ( which he in¬
timated to Confift mainly in a light
kind of Calcination ) of Scorpions,
which, fomewhat to my Wonder,
he made his Patient take, inwardly.
And, tho’ the Roots of Maudioca be
reckon’d among Ppyfons, when the
Juice is in them, of which I elfe-
where relate a Notable Inftance ;
yet, when the Juice isPrefs’d out,
and the Firm part reduc’d- to Meal,
it affords the Caffava , which is the
Common Bread of a great Part of
the Americans : and I did not fcru-
pie to Eat of it here in England .
Nay the Poyfonous Juice it felf, in
Divers places of the Weft Indies, is
even by the unskilful Inhabitants
turn’d into an Ordinary , and by
them beloved Drink. But enough
of this fort oflnftances ; I fhall be
more Brief in thofe of another Kind,

where'

(L

(93 )

mm

whereof the firft is afforded by the
Loadftone, which, tho’ for many A-
! ges admir’d by Greeks and Romans,
for what is Commonly call’d its At-
traftive Vertue, had not its Direc¬
tive Vertue known , at leaft any
thing Vulgarly, in thele parts of the
World, till within lefs than four
Ages ; Since when, of what Vaft
Ufe this Stone has prov’d to Man¬
kind , the dilcovery of the WeB-
Indies, and of the Way of Sailing by
the Cape of good Hope to the Eaji >
Indies, fiifficiently declares. I will
lay nothing of the Idles of the Silk
I Worm, and the Sugar-Cane, which
were little takenNotice of for many
; Ages, even by the Civiliz’d and Lux
urious Greeks and' Romans ; but
now, together with the lately dilco-
ver’d Cocheneal , which is but an In-
left, and far lelsthan the Silk W orm,
make a good part of the Trade of
i Europe, and furnilhes the Tables
\ of the Delicate with Sweet meats,

| and the Courts of Princes with ma
i ny of their JFineft Ornaments. -

But

But not to infill on fuch things as
thefe,but to proceed.

It defer ves alfo to be confident!
on this occafion,Thatmany Things
that are not thought Ufeful to Men,
becaufe we fee not that they direct¬
ly bring in many Immediate Ad van*
tages, may yet be of great Ufe to
them, as they Minifter to,or are Ne-
ceffary for,other things that are very
ierviceable to them. As the ex-
ceflive Rains that caufe the over¬
flowings of Rivers in divers parts
of Jfrick , and tome other Countries,
tho’ they feem rather Deftruftive
than profitable, do yet, by their fea-
fonable Inundations, make Egypt
and fbme other* Countries exceed¬
ing Fertile, that without them would
be very Barren: and among Us,
thole Clouds that do us no Immedi¬
ate Service, do . oftentimes, by Wa¬
tering our Fields and Gardens in
Summer, and by Manuring them ,
as ’twere, in Winter, do Nourifh
thofe Trees, Grafs, Corn, Herbs, and

other

( M )

other Plants, whereof fome Serve
immediately for Aliments to Man,
and others are necelfary for the nou-
rifhment of Sheep, Oxen, Deer, and
other Beafts that Men uliially feed
upon.

•

Not only Plants, and Animals, and
Stones, and Metals^ and fuch other
fmaller Bodies as are within Mans
reach, are capable of being made ufe
of by Him ; but to advance a Step
farther, to far greater MalTes of Mat¬
ter, and even fome of thole remote
CseleftialGlobes, which he is thought
able only to Contemplate ; One of
thole Ends, to which the Indul¬
gent Creatour deftinated them,
may be To be ferviceable to Man.

To lay nothing of the advantage
that skilful Seamen make of the Eb¬
bing and Flowing of that vaft Col-
; leftion of Waters, the Ocean ; The
' Declination of the Mariners Nee-
• die-) and the Variation of it, which
! probably depends upon the Moti-

tions

( 9 6)

tions or changes of fome Vaft Inter¬
nal Portion of the Terraqueous
Globe, is found to be of great Ufe
by Experienc’d Pilots and Naviga¬
tors, in their Voyages through thofe
Vaft Seas they ufe to pafs, between
Europe and the Eajl- Indies ; as I
learnt by particular Enquiry, from
Eminent Perfbns, that have more
than once SaiPd upon thofe Seas .
The Moon , to omit her Light, ferves
Men, not only to make Moon-Dials
by, and to foretell regularly the
Times and Quantities of the Vari¬
ous Ebbings and Flowings of the
Sea, the knowledge of which is ve¬
ry Beneficial , if not neceffary , to
Mariners, but ferves Mathemati¬
cians for Divers other Purpofes.
The Sun, not to mention his ordi¬
nary Light and Heat, and the neces-
fity of them to the Plants and Ani¬
mals that afford Man Food and Me-*
dicines, and to the Production of
many other EffeCts ; whereon his
Welfare depends, do inable him,
by Concave and convext Gaffes, to

burn

burn with Cceleftial Beams, with¬
out the help of Culinary Fire ; and
enable the Gnomonift/0 make Ac¬
curate Dials, to know exactly how
the Time paffes ; the Cofmogra-
pher, to make very ufeful Dilco-
veries of the Elevation of the Pole,
and Latitudes of Places ; and the
heedful Obferver of his Kifing and
Setting, to difeover what Artifts
call his Amplitude , which is of good
ufe to Aftronomers, and more to
Navigators, by helping them to
eftimate, among other things, the
Variation of the Compafs, (from
true North and South Points.) And
the Conjunction or Oppofition of
the Sun and Moon in Ecclipfes,
tho’ it be a frightful thing to the
Superfluous Vulgar, yet to Know¬
ing Men, that can Skilfully apply
them, thefe Ecclipfes are of great
Ufe, and fuch as common Heads
would never have Imagin’d ; Since
not only They may, on divers oc-
calions, help to fettle Chronology,
and reCtify the Miftakes ot Hifto-

I rians.

(9 3)

rians, that writ many Ages ago;
but, which is, tho’ a left Wonder,
yet of greater Utility, They are, as
things yet Hand, neceffary to define
with competent Certainty , the
Longitude of Places or Points aC
fign’d on the Terraqueous Globe;
which is a thing of very great mo¬
ment, not only to Geography, but
to the moft ufeful and important
Art of Navigation. And laftly,
at how ftupendious a diftance
ever the Fixt Stars are plac’d, yet
their remotenefs cannot hinder the
Induftry of Man, from making
even Thefe Serviceable to his Ules ;
Since, if we fhould admit thofe de¬
terminate Coeleftial Influences that
are little lels than the Idols of Aftro-
logers,they would enable us to pre¬
dict the Changes of Weather, the
Fertility and Dearth, the Sicklinefs,
or Healthinels, of any propos’d Sea*
fbn ; and, not to lay any ftrels up¬
on lo Controverted a Science, ’tis
plain that Skilful Navigators can
make life of any of the 'fixt Stars,

*- i * . _

v to

(99)

to know by any of them, what
Hour ’tis of the Night : And 7tis
more known, that Fifhertnen and
Pilots didgenerally for many Ages,
till within thelefour laft Centuries,
make very great ule of the Pole-
Star, and other of the Northern
fixt Ones, to guide them, when
nothing elfe could, in the perilous
Courles of their Navigations,
j I have feen, and been Mafter of
I a Tele (cope, made in the form of
a Walking-Staff^ lo that it was fit¬
ted to lerve for leveral purpoles ;
whereof tho’ one was very different
from the other, yet all of them

were in the Id<ea of the Artificer,

_ • /

and intended by him. The like
may be laid of a Concave Metalline
Burning-Glafs ; which , tho* it is
\ imploy’d to magnify the Pictures
i of Obje£ts, to call their Images in-
:i to the Air, and to Concenter the
i Sun. beams to a Focus ^in which they
!) will burn leveral Bodies 3 yet Theie
and many other things, which, tho*

- they leem to have little Affinity

I 2 with

1 . . ✓

L j

( ibo )

with thefe, are perform’d by a
Metalline Concave , were before¬
hand deftinated by the Artift, who
forefaw and intended, that in fuch
variousjunfturesof Circumftances,
it fhould produce all thole deter¬
minate Effe£ts.

And indeed, if we conlider Gods
Omnifcience and Providence, and
/ how Indulgent a Creator he has been
to Man ; it may well leem realbn-
able to think, that as God forelaw
that Men might make very various
and profitable Ules of divers of his
other Creatures , by the help of
that Prerogative of Realbn, which
■ he had vouchfaPd them ; So he de-
fign’d that Men fhould reap the Ad¬
vantages he had made many of his
other Works capable of alfbrding
them. And Iconfels, I think this
Refieflion may juftly ferve to Re¬
commend the Dotlrine about Final
Caufes that we embrace, to Philo-
lophers that are truly pious : Since
it furnifhes them with juft Argu¬
ments

( 1° J )

iflents for Gratitude to the Author
of fo many good things, as the
Corporeal W orld , by being con¬
templated or poffeft, affords them.
For to 'dok upon the W orld , as
vaft and curious a Work as it is, on¬
ly as a vaft and curious piece of
Workmanfhip ; may indeed give
a Man a great Id.e.i of the Power
and Skill of the Divine Architect :
But will rather exadt his Wonder,
than his Gratitude. And there¬
fore the Ancient Ariftotelians, who
look’d upon the World as Eternal
and Self-exiftent in a Condition
like its prelent Syftem ; did not
life to Thank .God for the Benefits
they receiv’d from things Corpo •.
real : Tho’ fume of them thought;
themfelves Oblig’d to thank Na¬
ture ; which they look’d upon as
adding with - Defign , and propc-
ling to her Self for Ends, the Wel¬

fare of the Univerle, and of Men.
To illurtrate this with lomething,
whole Application is Obvious. If
a Traveller being in fome Ill-inha-

( 102 )

bited Eaftern Country , fhould
come to a large and fair Building*
fuch as One of the mod Stately of
thole they call Caravanzeras ; thd5
He would efteem, and be delighted
with the Magnificence of the Strm
fture, and the Commodioufhefs of
the1 Apartments ; yet fuppofing it
to havebeenEre&ed but for the Ho¬
nour or the Pleafure of the Founder,
He would Commend fb ftately a Fa-
brick? without thanking him for it.
But if he were Satisfied that this
Commodious Building wasdefign’d
by the Founder , as a Receptacle
for Paffengers, who were freely to
have the Life of the many Conve-
pieocies the Apartments afforded ;
he would then think himfelf ob-

r i

lig5d, not only to Praile the Mag¬
nificence , but with Gratitude to
acknowledge the Bounty, and the
Philanthropy of lo Munificent a

Benefactor* • s

4 ' 1 • ' • : -

V * . ' u S> — ' • J A * • W / I ' 5 » •• • K. J/j

i . .‘iJOi r.U) :ic. .

SECT

v 9

I[ T remains now, that we di£
courfe a while of the Fourth
and laft Queftion, propos’d at the
beginning of this Tra£t ; which

was , With what Cautions Final
Caufes are to he Confider1 d by the
Naturdlifl ?

t i .. : . j. . i #

But the Cafes whereto this Que-

ftion may relate, are 16 many and
lb differing, that, what I fhall en¬
deavour upon lb diffus’d and diffi¬
cult a Subject, will be rather to
point you out feme Sea-Marks, that
may direct you to ffiun thofe latent
Jlocks, againft which divers Learn¬
ed Men have dalh’d ; than to pre-
fent you with a Mariners Com pals,
and a Sea-Card, that may conftant-
ly guide you in the Courfes of your

I 4

Navi-

Navigation, through fb unfrequeni
ted a Sea.

.

And, to make way for what I
am to offer by a QiftinfUon , the
want of which feemsto have con¬
tributed to the Obfcurity of my
Subjeft ; I fliall obferve to you,
that there are two ways of Rea-
foning from the Final Caufes of
Natural Things, that ought not to
be Confounded. For, Sometimes
from the Ufes of things Men draw
Arguments that relate to the Au¬
thor of Nature , and the General
Ends he is fuppos’d to have intend¬
ed in things Corporeal : As*, when
from the manifeft Ufcfuinefsof the
Eyes, and all its parts, to the Fun¬
ction of Seeing, Men infer, that at
the Beginning of Things the Eye
was fram’d by a very Intelligent
Being, that had a particular care,
that Animals, efpecially Men,fhould
be furnifh’d with the fitted Organ
c f fo neceffary a Senfe as that of
Sight. And Sometimes alio, upon

the

HU .1.

the fuppofed Ends of things Men
Ground Arguments, both A dir*
mative and Negative, about the
peculiar Nature of the Things
themlelves ; and Conclude, that
This Affection of a Natural Body
or Part ought to be granted, or
That to be denyed , becaufe by
This, and not by That, or by This
more than by That, the End de-
fign’d by Nature may be belt and
moft conveniently attain’d. This
latter fort of Arguments I am wont
to call purely or Amply, Phyftcd
Ones ; and thofe of the former forts
may, for diftin&ions fake, be ftyl’d
Phyfico - Thcol og ica,l Ones ; or ( if we
will with V 'rul.imius refer Final
Caufes to the Metaphyiicks, ) by a,
fomewhat fborter name , Metaphy-
fical Ones.

What has been premiled about
thele Two Ways of Arguing, al¬
lows me to proceed to what I fhall
venture, tho’ not without much

diffi-

<~u

( \o6 )

diffidence , to offer you , concer¬
ning our Grand Qgefttion about 5
which I lhall refer my prefenc
Thoughts to the Five enfueing Pro*
pofitionSiiionsO

■r'A 2 io a

••ri r* • i.

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jo. n & J is»

PROP.

r\ .I; jJ a,: ZtiC fltuffib

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• ; ; J 'ieiet -.veX .ViAvvxVA i]\: lk\v

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* Vx* i J s# <.iv «a«v/ v

f

( I07 )

«

PROP. I

S to the Generality of Celeftial
Bodys9 it feems not fafe to fro-

found Arguments of their . Nature ,
from the fuff oft ion of particular
Ends , at leaf of the Human ones,
defgn*d by the Author of Nature in
framing them .

c ?n >'i 1 ■'* ;* ■ rfoj“tcrrrii<r mI'r

»>. i. < ci. v * .»• . i > c. j..v> *.»•• »• •

I will not only Allow you, but
Encourage you, to take a Rife from
the Contemplation of the Celeftial
Part of the World, and the Shining
Globes that Adorn it, and elpecially
the Sun and Moon ) To Admire
die Stupendious Power and Wifdom

of Him that was able to frame fuch

\

Immenfe Bodys, and,notwithftand-
ing their Vaft Bulk , and ( if the
Earth ftand ftill ) fcarce conceive-

1 ‘ » Y

o

able

I

(i°8) I

able Rapidity, keep them for fo ma-
Ages, fb Conftant, both to the Lines
and Paces of their Motion, with¬
out juftling or interfereing with one
another. And I (hall moft willing¬
ly joyn with you ? in returning
Thanks and Praifes to the Divine
Providence and Goodnefs, for ha¬
ving fo plac’d the Sun and Moon,
and determin’d the former ( or the
Earth ) to move in fuch Lines , un¬
der that Oblique Circle Aftrono-
mers call the Ecliptick , that there
needs Skill in Cofmography to be
able to Apprehend , .vhaw ufefui
thele Situations and Motions are,
for the: Good of Men and other Ani¬
mals ;:&ridhow difedvantageous it
would have been to the Inhabitants;
of the Earth, if the Luminaries had\
beenotherwife plac’d or moved than
they are. But for all this, I dare:
not imitate Their Boldnefs, that
not only affirm, that the Sun and
Moon\ and all the Sfarsy and other
Celeftial Bodys , were made fo'ely
for the ufe of Man j but Pxefume

vf

( I09 )

to ground Arguments, to evince fuch
a Syftem of the World tobeTrue,
and fucli another Erroneous, becaule
the Former is, as they think, better
fitted to the Conveniency of Mam
kind, or the other leis fuited to that
End, or perhaps altogether Ufe-
lefs or unneceflary to it : As
when they Argue, that th eSm
and other vaft Globes of Light,
ought to be in perpetual Motion to
Shine upon the Earth ; becaufe, as
They fancy ,’tis more convenient for
Man, that thole Diftant Bodys, than
that the Earth, which is His Habi¬
tation, fhould be kept in Motion.
But, confidering things as meer Na-
turalifts, it feems not very likely,
that a moft Wife Agent fhould
have Made liich vaft Bodys, as the
Sun and the fixt Stars, efpecially if
we fuppofe them to Move with that
Inconceiveable Rapidity that Vul¬
gar Aftronomers Do and Muft a f-
fign them ; Only or Chiefly to Il¬
luminate a little Globe, that with*
out Hyperbole is but a Phyfical Point,

in

I.

/

)

(no)

in comparifonofthe Immenle Spaces
compris’d under the Name of Hea*
ven ; whole Lights might as well
Illuminate the Earth, if They were
a thouland times Leffer than they*
are, provided they were plac’d at a
proportionably Lels Diftancefromlt.
And ’twill be very hard to Affign,
what confiderable Ule the Terres¬
trial Globeor its Inhabitants Derive,
from that Multitude of Celeftial
Globes that make the Milky Way ;
fince each of thole Stars is lo far
from being fingly able to Inlighten
the Earth, that Jriftotle7 and the
generality of Philolophers for many
Ages, ( therein folio wd by divers
of the Peripatetick Schools at this
day) took the whole Aggregate
of them for a Meteor . And what
Light, or other known Advantage,
can the Earth or its Inhabitants De¬
rive from thole many Fixt Stars that
the Telelcopje only can dilcover,

( and which for that reafonl feme-
times call TeUfcopical Stars) among
the fix or {even Conlpicuous Ones

(Vu)

of the Pkkdes , or among thole that
the NakedEye can fee in the Belt or
Girdle of Orion? which ( Conftel-
lations) I Icarce ever look upon,
through a good Telelcope, without
Wonder. ■ 1 ■

I forelee, it may be laid , that
Thele and other the like Celeftial
j Bodys may be at leaft Thus far Ule-
ful to Man, as to Dilcover to him,
and give him a Rile to Admire and
Praife, the Greatnefs and Power of
the Divine Maker : And if this be
I faid, I fhall not quarrel with the
Allegation, but readily grant, that,
tho’ perhaps his Wildom fbinesas
bright to Us Men, in the Stru&ure
of a Gloworm, as in the Dilpofition
of the unteen Stars that make up
the Galaxy ; yet the Immenfity of
his Power could not perhaps be lo
well declar’d by lels Vaft Produ&i-
ons of it. But ftill thefe Arguments
jj are not purely Phyftcal, but of that
J lort that I call Phyfico-Theological ,

| whole Inferences Relate to the Ge¬
neral Intendments of God in the
| Uni-

1 V - N «

* /

(f12 )

Univerfe, which I therefore Style
Cofmical Ends ; but do not reach to
Prove any thing about the determi¬
nate Nature of particular Bodys.
Andfincethe Utmoft thatPhilofophy
teaches us, is, that in general the
Good of Man was One of the Ends
defign’d by God* in fo framing the
World as we fee it is fram’d : There
may be other Ends defignd by the
lame Omnifcient Author of Na¬
ture, of thofe Telefcopical and o-
ther Small or Remote Stars, whofe
Ufes to Us are doubtful or incon-
fiderable j towards the attainment
of which Ends, thofe Celeftial Bo¬
dies and Motions rpay be admira¬
bly contriv’d and dire&ed* And,
We not being able by meer Rea-
fon to Inveftigate what thofe Ends
are, tho’ we have not near fo much
Reafon to affure us that there may
not be fuch Ends, as the Infinitenefs
of God’s Wifdom gives us to think
there may be ; ’tis Prefumptuous for
Us to Judge of the Syftem of the
World, and of the Deftinations of

• ( 1 29 )

— •

Fixt Stars fb Remote, that, tho’ they
be probably like lb many Suns, We
cannot fb much, as Difcern them
.without good Telefcopes, By That
Syfttems Greater or Lefier Advan-
tageoufnefs to Us : Efpecially, fince
tho5 it were certain that, among o-
ther Ufes, God intended they fhould
be in fome fort Serviceable to Us,
yet he has no way declared to us
in what Capacity, or to. what De¬
gree , they fhall be Uieful to Us.
And therefore if they be fb in any
Meafure ( as for example Mental-
ly,.) they are So, for what we
know, as much as He defign’d they
fhould be : and That it felf being
an unmerited Favor, deferves our
humble Thanks. And it feems

♦ i

very likely, that God did hot de-
fign to all the parts of the Earth it
felf, Equal, and, confequently not the
Greateft, Advantages by the prefent
Syfteme of the Univerfe ; fince
the Countries Inhabited by the Sa*
motels and A TovazembLns . and o*

« t * •» , * “ . * ■ >

ther Nations that like very near the

K Artcick

( Il4)

JrctickPole, want many Conveni-
enciesand Advantages enjoy’d by
the Inhabitants of che Temperate
Zones, that lye nearer the W ay in
which the San moves.

But, tho’ bare Pkilofophy does not
favour the Bold Opinion I dare not
affent to ; yet I know , ’twill be
pretended, that Revelation does.
And I readily confefs, that the
Terraqueous Globe , and its Pro-
duct ions , ( among which per¬
haps the Atmofphere may be reck;
oned ) and efpecially the Plants
and Animals ’tis furnifh’d with, do
by the Scripture appear to have
been defign’d for the life and Bene¬
fit of Man, who has therefore a
Right to Imploy as many of them,
as he is able to Subdue : and that
the two Luminaries themlelves, the
Sun and Moon, were ap-
pf. 104. 1 9- pointed by God to give
Light upon the Earth,
and beuleful to all the Nations that
Inhabit it : And that therefore the
Kingly Prophet had realbn to ex¬
claim,

I

( i *4 )

claim yHoiv manifold are thy works 0
.Lord! How rvifely hajl
thou made them all ! i°4. 240

when in the precedent
and fubfequent words, he applys
this to the Terraqueous Globe, and
its Inhabitants. And He might
juftly fay, as he eltewhere did*
That the Heavens declare the Glo¬
ry of God, and the Firmament j hew -
eth his handy Work . But
thefe General Declarati- *9*
ons, tho’ they be juft Mo^
tives of our Wonder and Thank-
fulnefs; yet I fear they are not
good Topicks to draw luch Phyfical
Conclufions from, in particular Ca¬
fes, as fbme Learned Men advem
ture to do. For I do not remem-
bar, that ’tis any where declar’d in
the Scripture , that the Service of
Man was the Only, or perhaps fb
much as the Chief, UUe of all the
Celeftial Lights, and other Bodys
of thatlmmenfe Part of the World.
And This Single Confideratiott
ought to oblige us, to be very wary

K 2 in

j

\

in making Afcriptions to out
felves, as if the Great Syftem of the
World were to be eftimated by
Our Conveniencies. And if it be
laid, that Things meerly Corporeal
have not) and Man alone has , a Ra¬
tional faculty, whereby to Refer the
great & wonderful Works of God
to the Glory of their Maker ; I fhall
take the Liberty to anfwer, that,
tho thishasbeen Affirm’d by Many,
if not alfo Affented to by All, yet I
have not found it prov’d by Any.
And I fbmewhat wonder, that Di¬
vines fhould on this Occafion over¬
look that paffagein the 38th. Chap¬
ter of Job, which they generally in¬
terpret of the Angels. For the
Queftion, which God there puts to
Job j may be juftly apply-
$0b. 33. ed to Adam himlelf ;
4. 7. Where waft thou when I
laid the Foundations of the
Earth ? Declare if thou haft under -
ftanding . When the Morning Starrs
fang together and all the Sons of God
ftjouted for joy . And indeed , if

We

(*33 )

We even may prefume to Con¬
jecture of fuch things, it feemsto
me reafonable to think, that God
created the Angels before the Ma¬
terial World, that He might have
Intelligent Beings to pay him the
juft Tribute of Praifes, for fo Admi¬
rable a Spectacle as That of the
Rifting World, or rather the Be¬
ginning and Progrefs of the Crea¬
tion. However by the words laffc
Cited out of the Book of J ob, it ap¬
pears, that before Man was made
( for that he was not till the 6th.
day ) God wanted not Intelligent
Spectators and Applauders ol his
Corporeal Works. And fincethe
Angels are a Nobler Order of Intel¬
lectual Creatures than Men , and
are not Unconcern’d Spectators of
the Works of God : How do we
know, but that in the Syfteme of
That Part of Heaven, of which we
need Telefcopes to Know that there
is fuch a thing in ream Natura ;
and in the Plants, Animals, or o-
ther furniture, what ever it be, of
c i K 5 thofe

!

thole Particular, and to Our naked
Eyes Invifible , Stars , that ferve
Us men barely for Declarations of
their Makers Power; fuch Intel¬
ligent Spirits as Angels may dilcern
as Wife Deftinations, and asAdnli-
Table Contrivances, as Thofe, which
at the forming of the Earth and its
Furniture , invited their devout
Hymns and Acclamations ? And
in this Cafe, God will not loole any
thing of the Glory due to the Di¬
vine Attributes, difplay’d in the
Fabrick of the Celeftial part of the
World, tho the fixt Stars, fhouid be
neither Only nor Principally de-
fign’d for the Service of Men.

To what has been hitherto laid,
to let you lee the Realbnablenefs of
my firfl Caution, which repreftnts
the Making Particular and meerly
Fhyfical Inferences from the fup-
pofed Deftinations of Celeftial Bo-
dyes, as a thing Unfafe, I [hall now
$dd in the Second place 5

That

1

( tis )

That ’tis yet more unlafe , to
ground Arguments of the Nature
of particular Bodies that are Ina¬
nimate in the Sublunary World,
upon the Ufes we think they were
defign’d for.

i-.,:.: 'v

This will not appear an unrea-
fonable Caution if we confider .
How little we know of the Parti¬
cular Purpofes of Nature in thofe
Bodies here below, which not be¬
ing Organical , like thole ot Ani¬
mals and Plants , cannot by the
Curioufnels of their Structure dif-
clofe to us the Particular Ends to
which they were ordained. And
as for their Motions, fince they are
extremely far from being lb Con-
ftant and Regular as thole of the
Celeftial Bodies, the Caution we
f gave about drawing Arguments
from the Syftem of the Heavens,
will not, fure, be thought unfit to
take place when we Ipeak of the
Clays, Chalks , and S 'tones, and the

like Terreftrial Bodies, wkofe Tex-

4 K tures

*»

\

\

iures are, comparatively to thole of
Living Creatures, very Simple, anti
Slight, and leldom more Curious
than may be made by
H‘J*n Art , by DifTolving
&nd vermes of Stones and Metals in
Gems. Chymical Menffruums ,
and afterwards Chryftal-
lizing the Solutions ; oi which I
elfewhere give Examples. Tis
true, that, tho’ Revelation {peaks
rather of Gods having deftinated
Animals and Vegetables, than In¬
animate Bodyes, to the Service of
Men ; yet there is no abfurdity to
conceive, that generally {peaking.
That may be one of the Ends de-
fign’d by the Author of Nature, in
making Metals, Stones, and thofe
other Inanimate parts of the Ter-
reftrial Globe that Man is able to
malterand makeufeof. But where¬
as in this Globe the Surface is di-
ilant from the Center , above three
thoufind and five hundred Miles;
and I do not find that either Mens
Spades or their Pluraming Lines

•

* •

have

j

2 O

0*0

have reach’d above one Mile of that
great number ; Nor is it very like-
' ly, that Human Induflry will ever
make its way down to the Thou-
fandth part of that vaft Depth : it
leems very improbable, that the re¬
maining Internal part of the Earth,
that is above (even thoufand Miles
thick, and may, for ought we know,
contain great varieties of Foffils and
other Creatures, fhould be made
Chiefly or Only for the lervice of
Men, from whole fight they lye hid
in a deeper Well than that of De¬
mocritus ; and who do not lo much
* \

as know what kind of Bodies they
are. And th<? it will not hence fol¬
low, that the Terraqueous Globe
j was made by Chance, no more than
that any of the other Planets was lo;
becaule the Admirable StruQure of
Plants and Animals evinces the
! Exiftence and Providence of a moft
Wile and Powerful Author of
things, who may juftly be fuppos’d
; to have made nothing in Vain, even
l among the Inanimate portions of

our

I!*

MTK

■J- p.

I

IS

m

our Globe, whole Animated por¬
tions are fo wifely and exquifitely
framed : yety thac thofe Inanimate
Bodies were made for determinate
Ends, is more eafy to be deduc’d
from the knowledge we have by q-
other Mediums , that they are the
Productions of a Wife and Provi¬
dent Author, than bv the Contem-
plation of thefe Inanimate Bodies
themfelves. And perhaps it may
be worth Inquriry, whether fome
things may-not be made, even by a
wife Agent, not out of a Primary
Intention , but as Productions that
will naturally follow upon the Efta-
bli foment and Prefer vation of thofe
grand Laws and Rules of Motion,
that were moft fit to be fetled a-
mong Things Corporeal. And ’tis
very poffibie, that according to that
Cofmiul Bftablifoment ( if I may
fo call it , ) many parts of the Ter-
reftrial Globe foould be fb plac’d
or difpos’d of, as not to be fervicea-
ble to Men ; becaufe the' whole
Aggregate,or Globulous Mats, could

not

(112)

not otherwife be io wel fiiited to
the General Destinations of the U-
niverfe, which, it otherwife Con¬
triv’d would perhaps have been lets
ferviceable than now it is to Man
himtelf. To Countenance which
Confideration, I Shall obferve, that,
tho the Eclipfes of the Sun and
Moon be ufually Unwelcom, and if
Aftrologers may be credited, often
very Prejudicial to Multitudes of
Men ; yet the great
Former of all things, ox f°'Xer hacc°l
as the Original will L, t. I2#
bear it, of the whole,
did not think fit to alter the Tracts
or Lines of Motion, that he affign-
ed the Luminaries, to avoid the
Ecclipfes thatmufl yearly enfiie up¬
on their Moveing in liich Lines.
Whence we may alSo learn, that
Some Phenomena may not belong
to the Primary Intention of Nature,
but are only the necelfary Confe-
quences and Effe&s, of the Primi¬
tive Constitution of the World, and
the Catholick Laws of Motion.

And

* .

' J f

(h°) i

And if it be here demanded, what
the Ends are, for which the Deep
and hidden partsof the Terraqueous
Globe, and the Telelcopical Stars
of the Firmament, were made ; if
they were not made for the life of
Man : I fhall frankly anfwer, that
I cannot tell : And I know not but
fuch an Anfwermay be more ex-
preffive of the profound Reverence
we owe the great Author of Na¬
ture , than Their Opinion is, that
would have all thefe made for the
Ufe of Man : fince, To fay that we
know not why fome Part of a Work
is made by an Artift, whom other
parts proclaim to be molt Wife and
Skillful, does both Acknowledge
our own Ignorance, and leave it
highly probable that fuch Pieces
of Work are fuited to Purpofes
worthy of Him , and fuitable to
Them ; and feems therefore a faf-
er and more refpe£tful Opinion ,
than to fuppofe Him to have
made fuch things for a Particu¬
lar

i

( ip )

Iar End , which we connot make
out to be in any confiderable mea¬
sure worthy of his Wildom, and
attainable by them .

I ' 'i J . * V

-

PROP.

. .

( * 2$}

PROP. IL

IN the Bodies of Animat s'* t is often¬
times allowable for a Naturaliji ,
from the manifeft and appofite 'Vfes of
the Parts, to Collect fome of the Par¬
ticular Ends to which Nature , dejli-
nated them . And in fome cafes we
may, from the known Natures as welt
as from the Structure, of the Partsy
ground probable Conjectures ( both
Affirmative and Negative ) about
the Particular Offices of the pajrtsy

To obviate miftakes, you may
pleafe to take notice, both That in
this Proportion , I ipeak only of
thole Ends andUfesofthe Parts of
an Animal, that relate to the Wel¬
fare and Propagation of the Animal
it felf;and which therefore I former¬
ly

©

✓ V

( **o

ly cal!cd Animals Ends : and yet that I
do not thereby deny any Decla¬
ration that is made in the H. Scrip¬
tures, That God defign’d that the
Entire Animals, as well as their
Parts, fhould be in (everal ways for-
viceable to Man. And haveing
premis’d this to explain my mean-
ing in the Propofition, I (hall now
confider diftin£Uy the two parts
whereof it confifts. '

And i. There is no Part of Nature
known to us, wherein the Confide-
ration of Final Caufes may fo juftly
take place , as in the Structure of
the Bodies of Animals. And I con-
fels, that when I aflift at a well-ad-
minifter’d Anatomy, I do fo won¬
der at the admirable Contrivance
of a Humane Body, that Icannot but
fomewhat wonder, that there fhould
be found among Philofophers, men
that can afcribe it to blind Chance
The Stoickyxh2it 'mCicero asked an £-
pcureany why Chance did not make
Palaces and other Buildings, feems
not to me to have made an imper¬
tinent

( H4 )

tinent Queftion. For the commor
diouseii Houfes Mens Bodies dwell
in, are far lefs curious Stru&ures,
than the Manfions their Souls refide
in : which you will not think a
groundlefs Paradox, ifyou confider,
that, whereas even in a Palace, the
Materials being Wood , Stone ,
Brick, Mdrtar, Glafs, and four or
five Metals, are but Few in compa-
rifon of the Parts of differing Tex¬
tures, as Bones, Nerves, Ligaments,
Membranes, Miifcles, Veins, Arteries,
Gnflels, Glandules, Jellys, Humours^
&c ; and ; their Diipofition is ex¬
ceeding Slightjin companion of the
curious and elaborate Contrivance
of the numerous Parts, both folid
and fluid, of the Human Body;
whereof tho’ the Stable Parts alone
have been reckon’d to amount to
fome Hundreds ; yet in Every One
of thefe parts, the Bulk, Figure,
Confidence, Texture , . Situation.,
Connexion and Aptnefs for motion,
is the molt Commodious that can
be devifed \ and All of them are

wonder-

( 145 )

wonderfully Symmetrical, both to,
one another and the whole Body;
To divers of whole Motions,as Leap¬
ing, Running Speaking, Swimming,
Sneezing &c. a great Number of
them confpire. And this Number
of Parts is fo artificially contrived
and pack’d together, that tho’ in a
Body where no room is loft, many
Parts do at the fame time exercile
very differing Motions, yet each of
them moves freely, and does not at
all Hinder another, but rather they
Promote each others Motions,

I will not fuffer Indignation to
tranfport me fo far as to with, That
thofe that deny the Ufefulnefs of all
the Parts of their Bodys may fall
| Sick, or receive lome Wound, to be
thereby at once Convinc’d and Pun-
ifh’d : But I will venture to fay,
that Difeafes or Hurts alone may
I fhew, how excellently all the Parts
1 of our Bodys are Contriv’d in order
! to our W elfare. For, if lo much as
a Finger be made Bigger by Tu-

L mors,

mors, or Difplac’d by being put out
of Joynt , or kept in a Wrong Po-
Iture by Contractions, or have its
Continuity violated by Cutting, or
its Tone chang’d by Strains or Con-
tufions, or its Senfe or Motion ta¬
ken away by the Palfey , or its
Membranes iretted by Sharp Hu¬
mors, or its Motions Diforder’d by
the Cramp or Convulfions In any
of thefe Cafes we quickly find, how
'Commodioufly the Parts AffeCted
were Framed or Difpos’d,whcn any
Difeafe or Hurt gives them a Pre¬
ternatural Conftitution ; that is,
changes that Figure, Connexion,
Tone, &c, which , according to the
Inftitution of Nature, whilft the
Body is in full Health, does belong
to it.

The Eye ( to fingle out again
that Part for an Infiance ) is fo lit¬
tle fitted for almo ft any other Uie
in the Body, and is fo exquifitely
adapted for the Life of Seeing, and
That life is fo neceffary for the wel-

( 1 47 )

fare of the Animal, that it may well
be doubted, whether any Confider-
ing Man can really think, that It
was not deftinated to that UHe.
The fix or feven Mufcles that move
the whole Bulbe of the Eye, up¬
wards , downwards, to the right
Hand, to the left , and to various
oblique Pofitions ; and the feveral
Coats and Humors that make up
the Senfory,Have not only their Big-
nefs, Shape, Confluence,’ Situation
and Connexion admirably Adapted
to that End ; but the Tranlparency
of the Cornea and the Humors, the
Opacity of the Vvea, arid the Semh*
opacity of the Retina , and the ft>
Veral Motions of the Parts of the
Eye, being requifite to Receive,
Tranfmit, Refraft, and Difpolethe
Vifive Beams that come from the
Obje£t, after the manner requifite
to make the Livelieft Picture of it in
the Bottom of the Eye, Do no leis
concur to Compleat this matchlefs
Organ of Vifion: which is fo rarely
Contrived in order to That life, and

L 2 t com pa-

(.i4«)

comparatively fo little to'any Other,
that there is no more Rauinefs to
lay, that an Eye, than that a Tele-
Icope, was made for an Inftrument
to See with; that is, to Difcover
the Colours, Magnitudes, Shapes and
Motions of Diitant Objects. And
in that admirable Perforation of the
Vvea, which we call the Pupil, Na¬
ture has much outdone Art. For
whereas We are fain to apply to the
Object- Gaffes of Telef copes , Opa-
cous Bodys with feveral Circular
Apertures, that Some may let in
lefs Light, and Others more, accord¬
ing as the Objects are more or lefs
Bnght or Inlighten’d ; That part of
the Vvea that hangs in the Aque¬
ous Humor, is an Aperture, as the
Artifts call it, that Narrows and O-
pens it lelf in a trice, according to
the exigency of the ObjeQs we look
on ; Which if they be fo conftitu-
ted or plac’d, that they Refiect but
a Dim Light, the Curtain is pre-
fently drawn Open, and the Pupil
circularly Widen’d, to let in the more

Beams

C *49 )

Beams of Light ; and the Contrary
happens, as often as the Object, be¬
ing too Luminous or Illuftrated,
would offend the Organ , or di-
fturb the Sight, if the Contraaion
of the Pupil did not fhut out fome
of Its Beams. But for the Ufes of
the feveral parts ot the Eye, I fhall
referr you to the Induftrious Jeluit
Schemer's Oculus , and Des Cartes his
excellent Dioptricks ; where you
will eafily perceive, that, in Framing
the Eye, Nature did not only aft
with Defign, but with fo much
Skill in Opticks, that a more than
ordinary infight into that Science,
is neceflary to llnderfi and the W if-
dom of the Contrivances ; and per¬
haps no degree of Skill in it, would
enable a man to Alter them for the
better. ’Twere tedious to mention
the Other Parts of the Body, that
manifeftly appear to have been pre¬
ordain’d to certain Ules. The
Books of Anatomifts are full of Paf-
fages applicable to this purpoie ;
of which I fhall fay in general, that .

L 3 ' tho'‘

I 15° )

tho’ what they deliver fuffices to
fhew, That all the Parts of the Bo¬
dy are the Effects of an Intelligent
Caule : yet, unlefs their Defcripti-
ons and Reflexions be improv’d by
Men vers’d in Mathematicks and
Mechanicks, and, I fhail venture to
add, in Chymiftry too ; we fhail
but imperfeftly underftand, how
Intelligent that Caule is , or how
much Wifdom it has difplay’d, in
the Structure of a Human Body and
each of its parts,

Ulud in kis rebus
yitium vehementer
in eft o EffiigereJUo -
rumcfi errorem pre-
7(ieditemur , Lurni-
ra qui faciunt O-
tulorum clara cret¬
in Vr officers lit pof-
fimus , Lucret. de
Ndu l. tv.

Nihil idea quoni-
m n at urn eft in
Cor pore ut uti
pcjfemus , Jed quod
n at urn ejl, id pro «
icrett Vfum» Ibid*

I know ’tis objeft-
ed by the' Epicure¬
ans, that the Parts of
Animals were firffc
made, and their Id¬
les afterwards found
out by mens Sagaci¬
ty, But this isa So-
phiftical Objection,
For,frJl, as to many
of the Inner parts,as,
the Heart , Liver ?
Spleen, Kidneys, &ct

h ■ ■ ( ‘51 )

They perform their Fun£Eous
without fo much as Our Knowledge
of their Stru&ure, or perhaps their
Situation; fo far are they lrom be¬
ing applyed to luch Hies by Our Sa¬
gacity. And as lor the Limbs and
other Parts, which we can Move at
pleafiire; ’tis true, that they cannot
be a&ually Imployed to the refpec-
tive Ufes, till they be actually
Form’d ; but Thar hinders not but
that in their Formation they were
therefore lb Formed, that they may
be in due time lit lor luch Ufes.
And therefore we lee, that the Lhicic
is furnifhed with compieat Eyes,
and with Wings and Feathers, be¬
fore he be Hatch’d ; tho’ whilft he
is yet inclos’d in the Egg, he can
not make ufe of them to See or
Flye. And why was it, do the Epi¬
cureans think, that feature piovici-
ed a whole Set of Temporary Parts
for Pregnant Females, and Animals
in the Womb, which, when they
are come into a freer Hate, partly
fall away ofthemlelyes, and partly

L 4 turn

( ) <

turn to a Ligament, fitted no longer
for the former, but for a more lea-
fonable Ufe ? And ’tis to be noted,
that the Produ&ion of thefe Umbi¬
lical Veffels, and the Placenta or A-
nalogous Body in the Womb to
which they are faften’d, is of no
Neceffity nor Ufe to the Female be¬
fore Conception; and thereby thofe
Temporary Parts appear to have bin
Defign’d by Nature,not fb much for
the Perlbnal Preservation of the Fe¬
male as for thePropagation of thzSpe
cies% Which Destination not coming
to be accomplished, till a Woman,
for inftance,has attain’d to a compe¬
tent Age, appears to have been pre¬
ordain’d by the Author of Man¬
kind for the Continuation of It.

And the ? it be true, that the Sagaci¬
ty of men may have found out Some
Ufes of feme Parts of their Bodys,
that cannot be made appear to have
been Primarily Intended by the Au¬
thor of Nature ; yet That is no good
Argument, that thofe Ufes were not
Intended, which, either are made

With-

<M3)

W ithin us, or do, as it were obtrude
themfelves Upon Us. And as for
other Ufes, the Prefeience and Good-
nefs of God are fuch, that it ought
not to appear incredible, That He
that gave man both the Limbs Qr
his Body, and the Rational Endow¬
ments of his Mind, and that has
made many Parts, as the Eyes a#d
the Ears, Double, that One rx&y
liipply the want of the Other ; Did
both Forefee what Ufes men night,

! according to their Sagacity s aid
mergencies, make of theft P&rts ,
and lb Contrive the Parts/hst they
fhould be applicable to ludi Ufes.
Suppofe, a Wife man hould fend
his Son to Travel, and nnong other
things give him a Pocfet-Dyal with
a Magnetic Needle ; and this Tra¬
veller having loft his way in feme
wild Plain, or being at Sea in a Vet
fel, whole Compals was broken or
fpoyPd by a Storm, or feme other
Mifehance : If, I lay, in this cafe tho*
the Traveller Ordinarily Imployed
his Dy al only to find the Hour of the

■ j,.

Day, He fhall now Imploy it to
Guide his Courfe, or Steer the Vet
tel, by the help of the Needles point¬
ing Northward ; tho’ this would
be an Effect of His own Sagacity ,
yet his Father being a Wife and
Ixperienced Man, may reafona bly
etough be fuppos’d to have Fore¬
ign, that his Son might have need
of blowing the Northern and Sou¬
thed Points of the Horizon. And
accordingly may have given him a
DialVurnilh’d with a MagneticNee-
dle, ruber than an Ordinary Gno-
monic Efcal. And ib a Man that
has taught another to Paint Land-
skips, when he gives him a Pencil
and a Pallet curniflf> dwith Colours,
to draw a Particular Profpeft, is
not to be fuppos’d to have Defign’d,
that he fhould not Imploy them to
any other purpofe, if Urgent Cir-
cumftances made itrequifitefor him
to do (o.

Having infifted longer than I in¬
tended upon thz former part of my

Propo-

(mO

Fropofition, I now proceed to the
\ latter ; namely, That in Ibme cafes
we may from the known Ends of
I Nature, as well as from the Struct¬
ure of the Parts, ground Probable
ConjeClures, both Affirmative and
Negative, about the particular Offi¬
ces of the Parts. W hich I could
not feafonably doe before, becaufe
the Arguments, that were founded
on the Ules of the Parts of Animals,
fuppofe, not only that thole Parts
were deftinated to Particular Ules
knowable by Us, but that the leve-
ral Parts of the Body were Contri-
| ved as Wifely andCommodioufly as
Men are able to Devile, in order to
the Endsof Nature; whichis always
to be under flood to have United
in her Defigns,the Ules of theParts,
and the Welfare of the Whole.

i And indeed if we confider, how
admirable a Fitnels there is in the
Parts of the Human Body, for in-
ftance, to thole Particular Ends we
can dilcover them to have been Pre-

(m<0

defign’d for ; it leems allowable to
Conje£ture, that fuch a Part was
not Primarily Defign’d to fuch an
Ule, becaufe it is, on the account
of its Structure or otherwile, lefs
Fitted for it, than the conftant Wi£
dom of Nature feems to require ;
efpecially if there be any Other
Parts, by which That Office may
be more commodioufly perform’d.
And on the other fide, it may be a
Probable Ground, tho’ not altoge¬
ther lo Probable as the former, to
Conclude that fuch a Part was De-
ilinated to fuch an Ule, if the Ule
it (elf appear to be necelfary, and
the Part better fitted for it than any
Other is.

I _ . ,

Thus, tho’ Anatomical and Opti¬
cal Writers, as well as the Schools,
did for many ages unanimoufiy con¬
clude, the Cryjlulline Humor to be
the Principal Seat of Villon ; yet
theinduftrious«Sff£e/’»er,in his uleful
Tra£t intituled Qculus , does Juftly
enough reject that receiv’d Opinion,

/

by fhewing, that it Suits not with
the Skill and Providence of Nature,
to make that Part the Seat ( or
chief Organ ) of Vifion, for which
it wants divers requifite Qualifica¬
tions, efpecially moft of thefe being
to be found in the Retina. And
I remember that when I asked our
famous Harvey , in the only Dif
courfe I had with him, ( which was
but a while be fore he dyed ) What
were the things that induc’d him to
think of a Circulation of the Blood ?
He anfwer’d me, that when he took
notice that the Valves in the Veins
of lb many feveral Parts of the Bo¬
dy, were fb Plac’d that they gave
free paffage to the Blood Towards
the Heart, but oppos’d the paffage
of the Venal Blood the Contrary
way : He was invited to imagine,
that fb Provident a Caufe as Nature
had not fb Plac’d fb many Valves
without Defign : and no Defign
feem’d more probable, than That,
fince the Blood could not well, be-
caufe of the interpofing Valves, be
Sent bv the Veins to the Limbs; it

fhould

I 15*)

fhould beSent through the Arteries?
andReturn through the Veins, whole
Valves did not oppofe its courfe
that way.

Thus, whereas former AnatO'
mills and Phyficians generally be¬
lieved the Nutrition of the Parts by
the Venal Blood, the more Recent
Writers are wont to teach, that the
Parts are nourilh’d by the Blood in
its palfage through the Arteries.
Not that they Think, the Blood that
runs through the Veins altogether
unfit to Irrigate the Parts with that
Vital Liquor ; but that they Judge
the Veins to be Iefs fit than the Ar¬
teries, into which the Blood comes
immediately from the left Ventricle
of the Heart, Agitated and Spiritu¬
ous, and with a brisk Impulfe, which
forces out the P Articles of the Blood ,
at thole Poresof thsArteriesthat they
find Congruous to their Shape and
Size, and which anfwer to the fe-
veral Parts that are to be nourifhed
by Corpufcles io Qualified. ’T were

not

(»$9)

not Difficult, if ’cwere NecefTary,to
accumulate Inftanccs to the fame
purpofes with thofe already menti¬
oned; there being nothing more fre¬
quent in the Books of Anatcmifts,
and thole that treat of the P’.iyfio-
logical and Pathological parts of
Phyfick, than to draw Arguments,
as well Affirmative as Negative, a-
bout the Ule of the Parts of the Bo¬
dy, from their Fitnefs or Unfitnefs,
or their greater or leffer Fitnefs, to
attain fuch Ends as are fuppos’d to
have been Defign’d by Nature. Aid
indeed thele Argumentations oc¬
cur fo frequently, that I think there
is lefs need of my Increafing then,
than of my Proceeding to give you
a Caution about them, which I ffiall
do in the following Propofition.

PROP,

. ±

J iv'

4

PROP. III.

17* is Rational) from the ManifeB
Fitnefs offome things to Cofmical
or Animal Ends or Vfes , to Infer that
they were Fram'd or Ordain'd in refe¬
rence thereunto , by an Intelligent and
jyfigning Agent .

• '-I f. .

Divers things have Incidentally
b2en (aid in this Paper, efpecially
in the firft Seftion of it, and others
iAay hereafter be Occafionally add¬
ed, that may juftly be imploy’d a -
gainft that part of the Epicurean Hy-
fcthefis , which Afcribes the Origine
of Things to Chance , and Rejects
the Intereft of a Deity , and the De-
figning of Ends, in the Produftion
and Management of Natural things.

But becaufe I oblerve, not without
« *

grief, that of late years too many,

©ther-

(160)

( l6i )

otherwife perhaps Ingenious Men,
have with the Innocent Opinions
of Epicurus , embrac’d thole Irreligi¬
ous ones, wherein ( as I was fay¬
ing ) the Deity and Providence are
quite Excluded from having any In¬
fluence upon the Motions of Matter,
all whole Productions are reier’d to
the Cafual Concourle of Atoms i
For this Reafon, I fay, I thought
it a part of my Duty, as well to the
moft Wife Author of Things, as to
Their Excellent Contrivance, and
Mutual Subferviency, to fay Some¬
thing, tho’ but briefly, yet diftinCt-
ly and exprefly , to fhew , That,
at leaf!: in the StruCfure and Na¬
ture of Animals, there are Things
that argue afar Higher and Nobler
Principle, than is Blind Chance. But,
that I may do what I here intend,
with as much brevity as I can, I will
do little more than name fome Par¬
ticulars, that I have not obferved to
be fo ufually reflected on, to the

! Purpole for which I mention them.

| And I Chalt Confirm thefe Confide-

M rations

rations but with One In fiance, and
That too, taken from a Sort of Parts
that are as little Elaborate-, and
therefore leem to be as little Fit for
my Purpofe, as almofl: any in the
Humane Body.

I will not now inculcate what

» ; %

has been delivered, and may be
farther laid , of that Exquifite
Stru&ure of the Bodies of Dead A-
nimals, that is difcoverable by the
Knives of Anatomifts ; (tho5 1 fhall
not Scrupuloufly forbear to touch
lightly on a few things of that kind,
that are.requifite to my Purpole : )
My prelent Defign being , to let
down very briefly a few Argu¬
ments, to Strengthen the Propor¬
tion lately delivered.

■■ , ■ ' a a * . . 2 ,

jr * ' ,f • r \ | * . * .j

Firft then , I oblerve , That
there lecms to have been Care ta¬
ken, that the Body of an Animal
fhould be furnilhed, not only with
all things that are Ordinarily Ne-
ceiTary and Convenient, but with

U/J.

feme Superabundant Provifion for
Cafualties. Thus, tho* a Man may
Live very well, and Propagate his
I Kind*- (as many do,) tho5 he have
:but One Eye ; yet Nature is wont
to furnifh Men with Two Eyes,
.that , if One be Deftroyed or
Difeafed, the Other may fiiffi.ee for
Vifion. And fo , if One Ear grow
Deaf, a Man may be Converted
with, by the help of the Other that
remains Sound. In fhort, Nature
has furnifhed Men with Double
Parts of the fame Kind, where that
Duplicity may be highly Ufeful,
and ean be permitted without In¬
congruity to the reft of the Eodyf
And this is the more Confiderable,
ffiecaute in Offier Parts Nature ap¬
pears to Husband things, ft), as to
Shun doing things Superfluous :
As within the Skull, forne Vefleis
that would in other Parts of the Bo¬
dy have Double Coats like other
Arteries, are much Thinner, almoft
like Veins; the Thicknefs of the
Skull being ordinarily a fufficient
;A Ms Fenc®

V

4 I

\

I \

v ( X6A) . ^ : ' !

Fence to them from External Inju¬
ries.

'T: l : ; . ' ’ r . j7 :> J ]

Another Argument , That di¬
vers Things that Nature does about
Animals , are done with Defign,
may be taken from what Anato-
mifts Oblerve of Thole Parts of the
Womb or the Foetus, that are to
be found but at Certain Times, at
which there is Need of them, and
not at Others, when they would be
Ufelefs. Thus, when a Woman
is with Child, the V aft Ombilicalta
are produced, to be Channels either
for the Blood or Alimental Juice and
Spirits, that then ought to pafs be¬
tween the Womb and the Poettu ,
Which is to be Nourifhed, either on¬
ly or chiefly, by the Liquors derived
to It through thofe Veflels, aflifted
by the Placenta, that Supply to it
the want of Hating with the Mouth,
which the Unborn Infant either
' does not at all, or does but very im-
perfeftly, employ to Feed himfelf.
And though , as long as he continues

Imprifon’d in the Womb*Jlate, thefe
T emportiry P^rts, ( if I may fbca.ll
them ) continue with him ; yet%
as fbon as he comes abroad into the
World, thefe Umbilical Veffeis, par¬
ticularly the Two Arteries and the
Vein, together with the Membranes
they are wrapt up in, and Thofe
(commonly call’d the Chorion and
the Amnios ,) that Involve the Px-
tus, are Thrown off, as Unnecessa¬
ry to the Born Infant’s New State ;
and when It has quitted the W omb,
are Expell’d after it, whence they are
call’d the After-birth ; there remain¬
ing only that Part of the Umbilical
Veffeis that lies within the Child’s
Abdomen , between the Navel and
the Liver, where its U(e is Consi¬
derable, tho’ New ; it Serving no
more to convey Blood, or an Ali-
mental Liquor, to and fro, but De¬
generating into a Ligament.

• f ' • • -n

To the fame Purpofe with this
Contrivance, we may mention that
other , wherein Nature employs the

. \ ( i-66

V ' H

Foramen Ovale, that gives Paffage
to the Blood from the Right Ven¬
tricle of the Heart to the Left ; that
the Circulation of- It may be main'
tain’d, tho’ It cannot in the Embryo,
as it does in a Born Child, pafs
through the Veifels of the Lungs
from One of the Ventricles to the
Other. For this Formen Ovale, be¬
ing but (if I may lb call it) an Ex¬
pedient that Nature Employs, as long
as that which is Intended to be an
Infant , remains an Embryo ; this
Temporary Conformation is Obli¬
terated, when the Child Breathing
the free Air, is in a Condition to
make the Blood Circulate through
the Pulmonick Veilels, according
to the Primary Intention of Nature.
From which and the like Inftances
we may infer, That- thefe Tempo¬
rary Parts were Fram’d by a Fore-
ca fling, as well as a Deligning, At
gent, who Intended they fhould
Serve for fitch a Turn, and then be
laid Afide ; it being utterly Impro¬
bable, that an Undefigning Agent
■ .c - fhould

('*7) .(

fliould lo Appofitely and Exqumte-
ly Frame Scaffolds for the future
Buildings, if he did not before-hand
Deftinate both the One and the O-
ther,*to concur to the fame ultimate
Effebt.

' • \ •

Another Argument for our pre¬
lent purpofemaybe drawn, from
the Confideration of thole things
that in Animals ' are commonly
call’d Injlitttfs ; whereof Some more
dire&ly regard the Welfare of the
Individuals they belong to, Others
the Propagation of their Species j
j and Some again refpeft both. The
i Writers of Voyages, and thole that
profelfedly deliver Natural Hiftory,
recount Arrange, and fcarce credible,
Inftances,of the Inftin&s oblervable
in certain Animals. But we need
not lay the ftrefs of our Argument
I; upon dubious, or fufpedfed Rela-'3
j tions; fince what I have met with
| in Authors ol good Authority, or re-
I ceiv’d from the mouths of Travel¬
lers of good Credit, may ferve my

M 4 pre-

( ■<« )

prefent turn ; efpecially if it be al¬
low’d, (as I lee not why it may not
be, ) to take the word Injlinct in a
latitude, fa as to comprife thole Un¬
taught Shifts and Methods, that are
made ufe of by home Animals, to
fhun or efcape Dangers, or to pro¬
vide for their future Neceffities, or
to catch their Preys.

Divers Strange Things are deli¬
ver’d , not only by Poets, but by
more Credible Writers, about the
wonderful Sagacity and Govern¬
ment of Bees, in point not only of
Oeconomy, but of Politicks too.
But tho’ I fhall not build any thing
upon the Authorities that I my felf
Safpeft, yet, having had the Curio-
fity to keep for a good while in my
Clofet a Tranfparent Hive, whence
there was a free paifage into a neigh¬
bouring Garden ; and having there¬
by had theopporunity to make fre¬
quent Obfervations of the Aflions
of thefe little Animals, and parti¬
cularly to fee them at work about
* . ' making

( x69)

making their Combs, and filling
them with Honey : I confefs I dib
cover’d fome things that I did not
believe before, and was induc’d to
look upon them as very fitlnftances,
of Creatures endow’d with natu¬
ral Inftinds and Providence. For
’twere hard for a Mathematician,
in contriving lo many Cells, as They
make in the Area of one of their
Combs, to husband lb little fpace
more Skilfully, than They are wont
to do. And not only They Careful¬
ly and Sealbnably lay up their Ho¬
ney, to ferve them all the Winter,
but Curioufly dole up the particu¬
lar Cells with Covers of Wax, that
keep the included Liquor from Spil¬
ling, and from External Injuries.
I do not here mention the Progno-
ftication of Weathers, that maybe
made in the morning by Their keep¬
ing within their Hives, or flying
early abroad to furnifh themfelves
with Wax or Honey, or by their
unexpected Return before a Storm
unforefeen by Men ; becaufe I fuf-

ped

( 1 7° )

- • • V ' * I ✓

peel that thefe things may not be
fo much the Effects of Infttnfts, as
of a Tendernefs and Quicknefs of
Sehfe, fuch as may be feen in a good
Weather^glafs, and found in divers
Wounded and Crazy Perfons, that
are affedted with fuch Beginnings of
the Changes of the Air, as are not
yet perceiv’d by other men. But
among the Peculiarities to be ob-
ferv’d in the Conduct of Bees, I
cannot but take notice, that after a
Eight, I have, not without fome
wonder, ieen them take up the Dead
that lay on the Ground , and fly
away wirh them to I know not
what diftance from their Hive.

Another obvious Inftance of the

e

Inftinct that Nature has given even
to fome defpicable Infefls, maybe
taken from Ants, to whom Solomon
fends the Sluggard to School, to
learn the Providence of making Sea-

(enable Frovifion for the Future.

- - ■ \

For kis known, that thefe little
Creatures do in the Summer Hoard

\ up

'(*71 )

up Grains of Corn again ft the Win-
ter. And their Sagacity is the more
Confiderable, if it be true, what
divers learned Perlons affirm, that
they eat or bite off the Germens of
the Grains of Corn they lay up,
leaf! the Moifture of the Earth ex¬
pos’d to the Rains, fhould make it
Sprout. But whatever become of
this Tradition , thele InieQs do
feme other Actions, refembling Sa¬
gacity and Induftry, that are not
lb contemptible as their Bulk, tho’
I muff not ftay to mention them
particularly in this Place.

The Untaught Skill of Spiders, in
Weaving their Curious Webs, that
are lb Fitly Contrived , both to
Catch their Flying Prey, and give
them immediate Notice of its being
Caught , is a Thing, which, if it
were not Familiar, would be look’d
upon as Admirable. And this Skill
is not, as Some Imagine, an Effe£t
of Imitation of their Parents : For
if the Eggs be taken away and en¬
clos’d

(172)

clos’d ia a Glafs, when they come
to be Hatch’d by the Heat of the
Sun, the little Creature will Imme¬
diately fall to Spinning in the Glafs
itfelf, as was related to me, by an
Eminent Mathematician that made
the Experiment. And I faw the
lels realon to Diftruft it, becaule,
having by an External Heat Hatch’d
many Eggs of Silk- worms, in a
Place where there had not been any
of a long time before, nor probably
ever till then, yet the Worms pro-
puc’d by thele Eggs, did in Autumn,
of their own accord, Climb up to
thole convenient Places I had pre¬
par’d for Them, and there Weave
thole Curious Oval Prilons in which
they enclofe themlelves, and which
are Unrevel’d into Silk, of whole
extreme Fineneis or Slenderneft I
have elfewhere given an Account.

Nor is the provident Induftry of
Animals confin’d to Infe£ts, of
whom the Poet,- (if his words be

taken

( m )

taken in a Popular Sence,) truly
faith ;

lngentes Jnimos angufto in Pe-
cfore'verfant,

7 - . * 1 • • . ♦ r

Since ’tis to be found in divers of
the Greater Animals, particularly
in Beavers; of whom th<?' Some
things that are recounted by Au¬
thors and Travellers, are but Fabu¬
lous ; yet what has been related to
me by Sober and Judicious Perlbns,
that were either Born or Liv’d in
New England, where thele Animals
abounding, they had the Opportu¬
nity to obferve Them ; is liifficient
to Confirm fuch Relations, as may
give One juft Caufe of Wonder.
For ihefe Credible Perfons affirm’d,
That the Beavers with their ffiarp
Teeth, (whofe Shape and Strength
I have Admir’d, ) Cut pieces of
Wood lo as to make them Fit for
their Purpofe : -That by Alfoeiating
their Labours, they lay thefe toge¬
ther loas to Build themlelves Strong

' Winter-

\

( *74)

—- -r' Winter-houles, in which there is
fometimes a kind of Second Story,
for the Inhabitants to retire to-,
when the Water chances to Over-
s, flow : That for Thefe Houles, they
chulea very Convenient Situation,
juft by feme River, or other Wa¬
ter, that can furnifh Them with
Fifh : And, That the Overture or
Hole that belongs to each of tftele
Houfes, 'is plac’d juft by the Wa¬
ter , that they may irnmediately
Flounce into It, and lo Save them-
felves when their Houfes are At-
taqu’d. And to Facilitate their
Swimming away, and the Catch- '
ing Of their Prey in the Waters,
Nature has furnifhM them , as I
have Oblerv’d with plealure in a
Live Beaver , with two Feet not
made like Thole of Dogs, or Cats,
or like their Own two Ocher Feet,
but furniQfd with broad Mem¬
branes .betwixt the Toes, like the
Feet of Geefe , Ducks, and other A-
quatick Animals, that are to ule
- them as Oars, to Thruft away the

* ■ Water,

( *75

Water, and Facilitate their Motions

upon It, and in It.

, ',}♦!» **

*• V • * * ' J '

’Twere eafie to accumulate In*
fiances of the. Sagacity andlndu*
ftry of Animals, for their own .Pre-
fervafion: But Yis more eafie to
find Notable Ones, among thofe
AQions that concern the Propaga¬
tion of their Species.

I - . . > n ii.': t ■ |

, , / * . *

The various Arts employ’d by
Animals of differing Kinds about
the Materials , the Conftruftion ,
and the Situatiori of their Nefts,
is ufually Remarkable, and fbme-
times Wonderful. Of this Skill,
we have divers Eminent Inftances,
fomeof which I have been delight^
ed to See, but have not time to
Recount. Yet One there is, whole
Oddnefs will not fuffer me to pre¬
termit it. For in a Country that
abounds with Apes and Mon¬
keys, that are very Greedy of Birds
Eggs, and oftentimes Climb Trees
to come at Them ; there is a Sort

t ■

life;

III

of Birds, whole Eggs they pecu¬
liarly adeCl, that do as it were Hang
their Nells at or near the end of
Ibme long Flexible Branch or W and,
that grows Over the Water; by
which means their Infidious Ene¬
mies, who do not Swim, cannot
come at them Underneath ; and by
realon of the Yielding of the Flexi-
t>le Branch or Twigs whereto the
ffU+ZA**' ^ Nell 1S feftened, they are Frighted
PX . from venturing to pafs on, for want

of a Firm Support.

• j ' * “ p . jq % M. '' ' p. ; v . '

The Structure of the Nells of
Wafps, which they often make un¬
der Ground to Secure them, Ihave
oWerv’d to be very Curious and
Artificial , elpecially when the
Young Ones are Form’d in the
little Ceils, where they lye Hid and
Shelter’d till they are ready to Fly
away.

I might here multiply Examples
of this Kind, but I think it fitter to
proceed, by telling you, That the

InllinCls

( *77 )

Inflin£ts that Nature has Implanted
in Animals to Prelerve themlelves,
tho’ they would feem Admirable if
they were lefs Familiar, are much
Infetiour to That Providence that
She has furniflTd Animals with, for
the Propagation of their 6 'pecks.

There are diverie Notable Things
to be met with in the Nells of feve-

V

Birds, both as to their Materials*
their Stru£lure, and the very Situa¬
tions of the Places pitch’d upon to
Build them in. I have leen dome
Nefts,efpecially Indian Ones, which
would make a Man Wonder, how
the Birds that Built them, fhould
ftek and find fuch Odd, and yet,
all Circumftances confider’d, Cool”
modious Materials to Build with*
Of which we have an Eminent In-
fiance in the Nells of certain Eajiern
Birds* whole Names I remember
not , that make their Nells of at
White Subllance, (which has been
^relented me by lome of out Eajl-
HdU Merchants,) that looks almoft

H like

>

(■17 8)

like tcihjocolla , in the Shops com¬
monly cal Pd Ifwglafs , and is Diffo-
luble in Liquors, and fo very well
Tailed that it makes the chief
Sawce that they uie in the Southern
Parts of India at their Feafts. The
Structure alfo of the Nefls of di¬
vers Birds, both as to their Figure,
their Capacity fuitable to the Bulk
of the Builders, and the Accommo¬
dations they are furnifh’d with for
Warmth and Softnefs, may deferve
to he Applauded by Mathematicians
them lelves : efpecially if it be con-
iider’d, that thefe lirtle Untaught
Architects had no Tools to make
their Curious Buildings wirh, fave
their Beaks and their Feet. And
yet much more of Providence and
Forefight appears in the Situation
of the Places, that fome Birds make
Choice of to Build their Nells in :
As may be obferv’d, not only in
the Pendulous Nefts of Swallows,
and the Crafty Hidden Ones of
feme European Birds , but very
confpicuoully in the Hanging and

Moveable

' (l 79)

Moveable Nefts, that we lately men¬
tion’d to be fo Oddly plac’d by fbme
Birds, to lecure their Eggs from
Apes and Monkeys ; and by the
Situation of the well Tailed Nefts
I was newly fpeaking of, which
are to be found only upon high and
fteep Rocks , and are fo faftned
to thole Concave Parts of them that
look downwards, and, for the moft
part, hang dire&Iy over the Sea ,
that there is no getting Them with¬
out much Trouble and Danger, by
the help of Boats and Poles : Upon
which Account, as well as That of
their Delicioufiiefs, they are very
Dear in the Eafi Indies themlelves.
The like Care to Contrive their
Nefts Advantageoufly, and make
them in Secure Places, is taken by
divers Inlefts themlelves, as may¬
be oblerv’d in the Subterraneal
Nefts of the W afps formerly men¬
tioned, and in the Eggs of Snails,
which I have fometimes found Hid
under Ground, and had the Curio-
fity to Hatch in Gaffes furnifh’d

N 2 with

(i8o)

with the fame Earth they were
found in.

If I fhould here reckon up and
dilplay the leveral EffeQcs, and con-
fequently Arguments, of the Won¬
derful Providence , that the. molt
W ife Author of Nature exercifes
about the Propagation of Animals,
by diftinguifhing them into Male
and Female : By furnifhing both
Sexes with Mutual Appetites and
Organs, exquifitely adapted to the
Increale of their Kind : By the ad¬
mirable Formation of the Foetus in
the Womb, without the Females
Knowledge How it is perform’d :
By the ft range Subtilties and Cou¬
rage that Several of them, either
Oviparous or Viviparous, have, to
Hide and Defend their Young : By
the full Provifion that is made for
the Nourifhment of the Feet us, and
the Welfare of the Female after She
has brought ft forth : And by di¬
vers ocher W ays that I mull not
now ftay to Ipeclfie. If, I fay, I
y fhould

fhould venture to do this, I might
indeed, much enrich and adorn my
Argument, but fliould make this
Dilcourfe too much exceed the Li¬
mits that my Defign, and finall
Stock either of Ability or Leilure,
would allow. And therefore, in-
ftead of purluing a Speculation, that
would lead me a great deal too far,

I fhall look back upon the Intima¬
tion I gave not long fince, that even
thofe Meaner Parts of Animals
which feem to have been Fram’d .
with the leaft Care or Contrivance,
are yet not Unworthy of their Au¬
thor. , j.

For Proof of which, I fhall now
obferve , That tho ’ the Teeth be
lome of the leaft Elaborate Parts of
the Humane Body ; yet even Thefe'
afford more Obfervations appliable
to our prefent Purpole, than my In¬
tended Brevity will permit me to
take Notice of. And therefore I
fhall only, and that little more thaq
tranfiently, confider a few of Them

M 3 here ;

here ; and Ibme of the Others elfe-
where, on thole particular Occafi-
ons, on which it will be more Pro¬
per to bring them in.

I. And Firft, ’Tis confiderable,
That whereas, when a Man is come
to his full Stature; alj the Other
Bones of the Body ceafe to Grow,
the Teeth continue to Grow in
Length, during a Man’s whole Life.

This Growth of the Teeth ap¬
pears, not only by their Continuing
ib many Years of the Same Length,
but by theUnfightly Length of One
Tooth, when That which was op*
polite to It in the other Jaw hap¬
pening to Fall out or be Fulld out,
the Tooth we fpeak of has liberty,
to Grow into the Gap made by the
Removal of the Other. Of this Dif¬
ference in point of Growth betwixt
the Teeth and other Bones, What
Reafon can be fb probably given, as.
That ’tis defign’d to repair, the
Wafte that is daily made of the

Sub*

| I , (,83)

Subftance of the Teeth, by the fre-
p quent Atritions that are made, be¬
tween the upper and lower Tyre,
in Maftication ?

II. Whereas the Other Bones of
| the Body ( fome few Small Ones.

excepted) are Inverted with a very
i thin and fenfible Membrane, which,
for its dole adhefion to the Bone, is
by AnatomiftscalPd the Periofteum :
That Part of each Tooth which is
not cover’d by the Gums, has none
\ of this Membrane, which would be
ij fubjeQ: to frequent and very pain-
| ful Comprellions and Lacerations..

\ III. To enable the Teeth toBreak,
and make Comminutions of the
more Solid kind of Aliments, Na¬
ture has providently Fram’d them
I of a Gofer and Harder Subrtance, *
than almoft any other Bones of the
whole Body ; tho’ thefe be fo Nu¬
merous , that Anatomifts reckon
above Three Hundred of them.

| And I* have met with Relations in
j N 4 Authors

Authors of good Credit, That Some
Men’s Teeth have been fo Hard, as,
when ftruck with another Fit Body,
to produce Sparks of Fire.

IV. That Thele Bones, whole
Hie (to Prepare Aliments for Nu¬
trition ) is fb Great, and almoft Ne-
celfary, may themfelves be conti¬
nually Fed and Cherifh’d, tho’ they
Grow in Other Bones; the All¬
wile Author of Things has admira¬
bly Contriv’d an Unleen Cavity in
each fide of the Jaw bone, in which
Greater Channel are lodg’d an Ar¬
tery, a Vein, and a Nerve, which
thorough Lelfer Cavities, or as it
were Gutters,- lend their Twigs to
each particular Tooth ; which by
Thele little Velfels that reach to It,
receives a continual Supply of Nou-
rilhment and Strength.

V. In regard that Babes are, ac¬
cording to Nature’s Inftitution, to
Feed for aconfiderable time on Milk,
for which there is no need of Teeth,

and

*

" '

( )

and which would alio Hurt the
Nipples of Her that gives them
Suck : Nature forbears for many
Months to produce Teeth in Hu¬
mane Infants : whereas the Fee tush
of divers Brute Animals, that are
oftentimes redue’e! Early to leek
out Aliments that are not Fluid, nor
very Soft, are Born with Teeth al¬
ready Form’d in their Jaws.

VI. The Bony Subftance appoin¬
ted for the Comminution of Ali¬
ments, ought not for leveral Rea-
Ions, ( which for Brevity’s lake I
here omit,) to be in either Jaw
Entire , or all of one Piece : And
therefore Nature ha» providently
made for that Ule, a competent
Number of diftinffc Bones in either
Jaw. And, becaule Men may of¬
ten have Occafion, to feed upon
very differing Sorts of Aliments,
and ufually the Same Aliment may
require Differing Preparations in
the Mouth * to Facilitate the Di-
geft ion of It in the Stomach : Na-

(•80

ture has provided Men with Two
Rows or Sets of Teeth, equal for
the moft part in Number, ( each
Jaw in Men ufually having Sixteen,
and in Women Fourteen or Fifteen,)
and anlivering to each other, but
yet of differing Shapes, for differing
U(es. For Some, as the Fore-teeth,
are Broader, and with a kind of
Edge, to Cut the more Yielding
Sort of Aliments ; whence thele
Teeth are called Inciforii. Others
are Stronger, and more fitly Shap’d
to Tear the more Tough and Re¬
filling Sort of Aliments : Thele are '
They that by the Vulgar are in,
TngU[h call’d Eye-Teeth , and which,
for their Refemblance to Thole of
Dogs, are by Anatomifts calld Ca-
nini. And then there is a Third
Sort, whole principal Office is to
Grind the Aliments that are Cut
or Torn by the Others ; and for
this Purpoie they are made much '
Broader, and lomewhat Flattifh ,
but yet with their Upper Surfaces
Uneven and Rugged, that by their

Knobs

V.

(187)

Knobs and little Cavities, they may
I the better Retain, Grind and Com-
mixe the Aliments, that are to be
Chew’d by Them : And for this
Realbn they are call’d Molares.

VII. And becaule the Operations
to be perform’d by the Teeth, often¬
times require a confiderable Firm-
nels and Strength, partly in the
Teeth themfelves, and partly in the
Inftruments that Move the Jaw
wherein the Lower Set of them is
fix’d : Nature has provided the
i Lower Jaw, ( which alone is Mo-
| veable, unlefs, as Some affirm, in
i Crocodiles ,) with Strong Mulcles,to
5 make it bear forcibly againft the
S Upper Jaw : And has not only
ij Plac’d each Tooth in a diftin£t Ca-
| vity of the Jaw-bone, as it were
i] in a CloFe, Strong, and Deep Socket,
but has furnifh’d the feveral Sorts of
! Teeth with Hold- falls, fuitable to
i the Strels, that, by reafon of their 1
Differing Offices, they are to be
j put to. And therefore, whereas

the

' ; >

I: . v

V

( 1 88 )

the Other Teeth (the Cutters and
the Dog-teeth)have ufually but One
Root, (which in thefe laft nam’d
is wont to be very Long \ ) the
Grinders, that on many Occafions
are employed to Crack Nuts, Bones,
or Other Hard Bodies, before they
can be Ground ; are furnifh’d with
Three Roots, and oftentimes with
Four, in the Upper Jaw , whole
Subftance is lomewhat Softer, and
whole Grinders Serve as lo many
little Anvils, for Thole of the Lower
to Strike or Prels againlh On
which Account, as hath been alrea¬
dy Intimated, the Lower Jaw, (for
the Other belongs to thelrtimovea-
ble Part of the Skull,) is furnifh’d
with a ftrong Mulcle on either fide,
capable of Moving It, and conle-
quently the Teeth in It, with great
Force againft the Upper Jaw.

If lome Favourer of Epicurus's
Doftrine fhall here Objed, that,
tho Man indeed be Advantagioufly
furnilh’d with Teeth, yet there are

many/

(i*9

many Other Animals, and even
Quadrupeds, whereof fome have
not near lb Many Teeth as Man,nor
fo Commodiou fly Shap’d and Plac’d
as His; and Others are not fur-
nifh’d with any Teeth at all : And
that likewife there are many Other
Animals, that have fome of their
Other Parts lets Convenient in their
Kind, orotherwile are not near fo
well provided for, as they would
be, if they were not rather Cafual
Produdtions, than thole of an Intel¬
ligent and Defigning Opificer : If
Thele things, I lay, be Objected, I
mu ft own myfelf of a very differing
Opinion from the Objeffor. And
I think I could add much about the
Final Caufes of Things Corporeal,
as the Confideration of them leads
to a high Veneration of their Divine
Author, and as it tends to manifeft,
'that, when His Providence is De-
ny’d or Condemn’d, ’tis for want of
Its having been fufHciently Under-
flood, and duely Confin’d- But,
befides that this Third Propofition

ought

( >9°) ,

ought to be but One Part of our Di*
fcourfe of Final Cau/es ; I have in
great Part prevented myfelf alrea¬
dy* by what I have formerly laid,
to Obviate or Anfwer fbme Excep¬
tions, relating to the Eyes of Man*
and Differing Animals. For Moft
of the Confiderations, if not All,
that have been Aliedg’d on the Oc-
cafion* of thole Organs of Sight,
may well be, Mutatis Mutandis, ap¬
plied to the Varieties that are to be
found in the Teeth, and other Parts,
of differing Kinds of Animals. For
I may juftly reprelent, That the
Reafon why This or That Organi-
cal Part of This or That Specks of
' Living Creatures, has not fuch a
Structure, or is not fo Plac’d, as We
might think moft convenient, may
often be, That in this Cale it would
be Ms proper for Other Ends, of
more Importance to the Welfare of
the Animal , than fuch a Fabrick
and Situation of the Part ’ as We
Prefer, 'would be. And there are
alfomany Cafes, wherein the Thing

that

feL- flh

/

that We make bold to think Want*
ing or Amils, is provided for by
Other Contrivances in the Same
Animal ; by which Provifion, the
Part under Confideration is made
more Serviceable and Symmetrical
to the reft of the Body : And lo,
performing Other Offices befide the
Main, is, upon the whole Matter,
more Uleful to the Animal, than
Otherwile it would be.

’Tis known that Oxen and Sheep,
and many Other Ruminating Beafts,
are not furnifh’d with near fo ma¬
ny Teeth as Men are, and as are
to be found in Dogs , Cats, Horfes ,
and many other Quadrupeds. But
for the Paucity of Teeth Amends is
made, in moft of thole Animals,
partly, by the Power and In ft in £t
They have to Chew the Cud, and
thereby make a Second Attrition of
their already much Softned Ali¬
ments; and partly, by the Succeffive
Cavities orStomachs,(diftinguifh’d
by the Ncmes of Primus, Center,

Reti-

through which the Aliment is
Tranfmitted, and more and more
Elaborated, to make it Fit for fur¬
ther llfes. The Mouths (efpecially
the Inward Parts of them,) of the
Beaver , the Tortoife , the Bee , the
Humming Bird that Feeds on
Flowers,whofe Exudations with his
long little Bill He Sucks like the
Bee : Thefe, I lay, and many Other
Animals, (to omit the Elephant
himfelf, ) have their Mouth, and
their Ways of Preparing their Ali¬
ments for the Stomach, very Diffe¬
rent from what is obierv’d in Men,
and yet very Convenient for thenl
refpe&ively, all Circumftances con-
• fider’d.

Thefe and the like, whether Com- -
penfations or Expedients, are in
many Animals fetch, that there is no
Caufe to tax the Author of ’Nature,
for not having given Some Animals,
all the fame Parts that Others are
furnifh’d with : But rather the

I

( 193 )

Thrifty Providence, ( if I may fo
fpeak,) and Defigning Wifdom oi
God, in the Contrivance of his VP
Able Works, may be as well difco-
ver’d by the feeming Omiffion of
This or That Part, that is Uleful to
Other Animals, but is notNeceffa-
ry to Thole wherin it is not found,
as, by Granting Thofe Parts to the
Animals , to whofe Compleatnefs
or Welfare they are Neceflkry, or
highly Conducive. On which
account ’tis not to be thought
Strange , that He has not to Men,
as to Frogs, and many forts of Birds,
given fuch Tough, Tranfparent ,
and Moveable Membranes, as thefe
Animals are provided of to Cover
their Eyes, from Harms that Thole
of Men are not ufually expos’d to.
And ’tis not an Omiffion, ‘not to
have given Girls Swelling Breafts,
before they are capable of Genera¬
tion, more than ’tis, not to continue
to them, after their being grown
Mothers,the Placenta Vterirn, when
they are not with Child.

O Though

*

\

( *94 )

Though Batts be look’d upon as
a Contemptible fort of Creatures,
yet I think they may afford Us no
Contemptible Argument to Our
prefont Purpofo. For in this He-
teroclite Animal, you may difcern
the Foecundity of the Divine Arti¬
ficers Skill, which has inthis Form’d
an Animal that Flies like Birds, and
yet is not only Unfnrnifh’d with
Feathers, but is of a Fabrick quite
differing from that of Other Birds.
And in this little Animal We may
alfo obforve, both the Compenla-
tion that is made for Parts, that
feem either Deficient, or leis Ad¬
vantag’d than Thofo of the fame
Denomination in Other Birds : and
the Regard, which the Divine Ar-
tift appears to have to the Symme¬
try of Parts , in His Animated
Works, and to their Fitnefs for the
Places they are to Live in or Fre¬
quent. For the Batt, being to a £t
fometimes like a Bird, that Flies
freely to and fro in the Air, and
on fome Occafions like a Terreftrial

Animal

( 195 )

Animal, fuch as is that little Qua¬
druped a Moufe ; ought to be- fur-
nifh’d with Parts fuitable to fuch
! Differing Deftinations. And there¬
fore, to fit him to Anfvver the Firfi:
of Thefe, the want of Feathers in
the Wings is fupplyM by a broad
Membranous Exparjfion,andakind
1 of Toes furnifh’d with Articulate
I ons ? that make up the Wings : '
! And, becaule this Animal was to
be able, like Other Birds, to for-
| bear Settling on the Ground, other-
wife than his Occafions requir’d :
Each of his Wings is furnifh’d with
|! a ftrong Crook, like the Claw of
i a Bird’s Foot, by the Help of which
! he can faften himfelf to Trees ,
Walls, and divers Other Erected
I Bodies, and keep himfelf Sufpen-
ded in the Air , and continue at
what Distances he pleafes from the
Ground. And becaufe he is furnifht
with Teeth, which other Birds want,

(| to Chew his Food, and thereby pre-
[■ pare it for Digeftion : He needs not
have a Crop, or Fuch a Strong and

O 2 Mufcu-

( )

Mufcular Stomach , as is ufually
found in Birds : And (in fhort) to
Omit the peculiar Structure of
Other Internal Parts, wherein the
Batt differs from Other Birds :
Since the Female was not , like
Them, to be Oviparous, but, like
Mice and Other Quadrupeds, that
bring forth their Young Ones alive :
She is not only furnifh’d with an
Uterus fitted for that Purpoie, but,
in regard She does not, like Birds
that lay Eggs, Excluoe, together
with the f'tctut , a competent Stock
of Aliifient to Nourilh It, till it can
Shift for Itielf : The Batt is fur-
nilh’d with Dugs, to give Suck to
her Young Ones : And by Zoogra*
phers’tis obferv’d, That,<*rfhe has
but Two Teats, fo fire brings forth
but Two Young Ones at a Birth ;
whereas Mice are much more Pro-

liffick. ■ -•

hb-nil wn iwlw&r, »

The Writings of Zoographers,
and the Relations of Travellers, af¬
ford divers other Inftances of the

Various

( '97 )

Various, and yet Excellent, Con'
trivances, that are to be found in
feveral Animals that differ from
Man, fwho is ah Animal endow’d
with numerous Tfeeth,) in the Fa-
brick of the Mouth,and Other Parts
infer vient to the Reception of Ali¬
ments, and their Preparation for
Digeftion.

But palling by the Mouths of
Tortoifes, Camelions, and Other
Animals, the Hardnefs of^ v\ hole
Gums, in reference to their Ordi¬
nary Aliments, fuffices to make A-
mends for their Want of Teeth,
j! There is one American Beaft, which
f| I think, I ought not to forbear men-
;i tioning here, as a Notable Inftance,
to manifeft how the Wife Archi-

I teft can Compenfate the Want of
ij Teeth, by the rare Strufture of

the Mouth and Tongue, and Their
Fitnefs to Seize on and make Life
of thole Aliments, which, tho5 Lin-
|: common for a Beaft of His Bulk,
He feems to have been deftinated

II O 5 to

to Live upon. The Animals of this
Kind are by Hernandus , who re¬
tains their American Names, call’d
Ac ho as and 7 amen do as ; * and of
Thefe, and particularly of the
Parts they are provided of to Eat
with, he gives us this Account.

ViL Schani Fhyf. *t*d T«'

curio f. /. 8. c. 5. catenjes Sdpaarupedes

quidam, dorfo prxdn-
ro & fulvi, agnorum magnitudine ,
fed qui ventre c ire iter Ter ram at tin-
gant , dent mm omnino expert es fmt7
&' folo formic arum venatu vivant,
quartern c timid os duohus magnis un-
gmbus q mbits finguli ant er tores pedes
arm ant ur , excavant turbantque j
ac d.ein exert a lingua , qu# dotranto
lor/gior e/ffcabra tores ac penna?n
anferinam crafja7 for micas earn con -
feendentes ac den/. antes fife ip iunt ,
eadcmque contract'd , & in os, quod
mirum in rnodum anguflum ac par -
vum esf recepta, gratum fibi pabulum
capiunt , & innocent in m Animalium
prnda pot hint ur. Of the fame fort
Of Beads, the Ingenious Pifo9 in

( «99 )

his Hift. of (where he Prac¬
tis’d Phyfick)mention$ Two kinds,
the Greater and the Lets, which He,
like Hernandus^ calls T "amantiuus^ hut
adds the new coin’d Name of Myr~
mecophava j and oi Both gives this

Account. (fays

he ) Jmt aoSambaU JWJ-JJ
pabuli caufa ; Cicurat & tfNisd.c. 22.
quoque vefcuntur ,

fed minuttm cone if a quid' non folum
capite, promufeide , /e^2
angufio , accuminato , edentuloque ,
lingua denique , in far chraffioris Qhor-
d£jereti adeoque longa prefer tim : in
Tamanduamajori , duorum pedum

longitudimm excedat , proinde

duplicate (quod notatu fane dignum)
quafi can ah incumbit inter infer tores
venas y quant ef uriens madidam exerit ,
arbor urn truncis diu imponit , ?nux
for mi cis opertam repent e retrahit . 05

fodtendo Utebre tar urn detegi
poftulant , Vnguibm id pufiat com¬
mode, cquib us pedes pojler lores inftruett
funt fat is validis & longu . numero
quinque , anterior es quatuor , re-

( 200 )

ctirvU . diiobus in medio maximis.

■

’Tis alio to be confider’d, That
Divers Things may be Uieful in an
Organical Part,befides That where¬
by its Function is primarily and
mainly exercis’d : As , thd* the
Eye-lids and their Motions, together
with the little Glandules that be¬
long to them ( moft of which lye
conceal’d under the Edges ) are not
at all necelfary to the A£t ofVifion,

( no more than Curtains are to a
Window; ) yet they are to the
Compleatneis and Welfare of the
Eye, which is the necelfary Organ
of Vifion : As is manifeft by the
Pain and Prejudice the Eye receives,
if the Eye-lids, which arefubjeQ: to
more than One Diftemper, becon-
fiderably Bilai%<9:ed. .

I may hereafter have occafion to
take notice, that, befides thofe U-
ies of the Parts of a Human Body, .
which I venture to call Anatomical ,
becaufe they are fuch as Anatqmifts

have

( aoj )

havedifcover’d by meer DiiTe&ions;
there may be of feveral Parts Other
Ufes , which I call Qhymicd , be-
caufe Thele Parts doElaborate Spi¬
rits of feveral Sorts, and perhaps Ex-
ercife fome other Spagyrical Fun¬
ctions of great Importance, if not
of Neceffity to the Welfare of a
Living Mam

And , befides, the Anatomical
and Chy mical Ufes, there may be
others very fit to be confiderM in
fome parts of a Human Body; as
the Mechanical Advantages , for
which the Various Shapes and
Structures of differing Mufcles, and
the feeming Irregular, and as it
’twere Cafual Fabrick of the Bones,
and efpecially of the Proceffes and
Protuberances, are admirablyFitted.
And there are alfo in fome Parts,
as the Eyes, Opted Reafons to be
confider’d, before One can other-
wife than Rafhly Cenfure, what
the Author of Nature has done
about them: As,tho7 the figure of the

Chry-

( 201 )

Chryftalline Humour be much
more Globous in moft Fifties, than
in Men and Tereftrial Animals, yet
he that underftands the Dottrine of
RefraQdons, and confiders that Fi¬
fties under Water are to lee Obje£ts
through a far thicker Medium than
Air, will readily acknowledge,
that this Difference between the
Eyes of Fifties and thole of Men, is
not an Imperfection in the former ;
butwhilft thole Creatures are in
their own Element, a great Advan¬
tage. And,to be fhort,I think there
are fo many Sciences, and other
Parts of Knowledge, fome of them
perhaps Icarce yet Difcover’d, that
may be required to warrant a man,
to Cenfure the Ends of God in the
Bodies of Animals, that very Few
have Knowledge enough to be ca¬
pable of Condemning them without
Rafhnefs : And they that have
Knowledge enough to Judge aright,
will not be forward to Condemn
them, but Admire them.But,/^’this
Confideration be not here difplay *d,

yet;

yet the now mention’d Intimation
of it may afford us this Reflexion,
That Men may eafily be too Rafh,if
they think a part Bungiingly
Fram’d, upon Suppofition that, by
the Anatomical Infpe&ion of it,
they know all the Ufes that the Skill
of the Divine Opificer could Defign
it for.

Nor will it neceflarily follow,
that, becaule in fome Particular
Bird, or Beaft, or Fifh , we may
not be able to give an account, W hy
this or that Part is not to be found,
or W hy it is otherwile Fram’d or Si¬
tuated than that which is Analo¬
gous to it in Man ; it muft there¬
fore be Cafually or Improvidently
Fram’d or Plac’d : Since we cannot
expert from Brute Animals, An-
fwers to thofe proper Queftions a-
bout their own Bodies, which we
can receive from Men about their
Human Ones. And yet, notwith¬
standing the great Aifiduky, with
which the more curious Phyflcians

are

(204)

are oblig’d to Cultivate Anatomy,
and the frequent Opportunities
they have to do it, and to ask Li¬
ving Men Queftions about what
they find, when the Natural life of
their Parts is Hindred or Perverted :
Our Sagacious Moderns are to this
day at a Lofs, as to the TrueUfes
of the Vifible Parts of the Body
to fay nothing of the Invifible, fuch
as Spirits, Salts, &c. So that it
ought to be no Wonder, if in Ani¬
mals, whofe Fabrick we have much
lefs Concern to Inquire into, and
and much lefs Opportunity to Exa¬
mine, we fometirnes find Parts, of
.whofe llfes and their Fitnefs for
them, Men are not yet able to give
a fatisfaftory Account. For I con-
fider, that even in Man himfelf,
tho7 there be numerous Valves
found in his Veins, yet for thofe
many Ages that the True Ules of
them lay Hid, an Jfclepiades , or
fame Ocher bold Epicurean Fhyfi v
clan, might have thought himlelf
well grounded, to look upon them

if I (205)

as Superfluous Parts : Which, now
that the Circulation of the Blood is
difcover’d, they are ackowledg’d

to be far from being.

fv- ' • i'U / '7 7 1. . -r

On this Occafion it may help us
if it be confider’d, That, iince God
is both a mofl: Free and a moft
Wife Agent, it need not feem
Strange that He fhould Adorn fbme
Animals, with Parts or Qualities
that are not Neceffary to their
Welfare, but feem’d Defign’d for
their Beauty : Such as aretheDiP
? pofition of the Camelion to ’Change
1 Colours ; and the lovely Greens,
i Blews, Yellows, and Other Vivid
i Colours, that Adorn fome forts
!l of Pigeons, and of Parrots, and
tj divers Letter Birds, as Gold-finches,
;i Canary-Birds, and efpecially thofe
| admirably little Winged Creatures
Humming Birds. And on the O-
I ther fide, fometimes God’s Wifdom
1 feems to be as it were Thrifty, and
I Solicitous not to beftow on an Ani-
! mal, or a Part of it, more than
I is

( 2°^ )

is Neceffary for the life for which
’tis Defign’d . As the Veins are by
Anatomifts obferv’d to have but
One Coat or Membrane , and
ufually to lye more Expos’d than
the Arteries that accompany them ;
Thefe having Stronger and Double
Coats, becauie they are to convey
a more Important Liquor, (the Ar-
I terial Blood,) which befides that
I ’tis more Agitated and Spirituous,
is forcibly impell’d into Thole Vel-
fels by theMulcular Contraction,
' or Strong Impulle of the Heart.
And to the lame purpole it may be
oblerv’d, That the Arteries within
the Skull are far more Thinly Coat¬
ed than elfe where ; the Solidity of
that Bony Part being a Fence to the
Velfels that it covers.. And to add
That on This Occafion, we may
obferve , That , the? the Nerves
ufually lye Deep in the Parts, to be
kept both Safe and Warm, being
very lyable to be offended both by
Cold, and the Contact of Exter¬
nal Bodies ; yet, it being neceffary

.( 2 07) '

that the Optick Nerve fhould Ex¬
pand itfelf into the Eye, the Mem¬
branes that Invefl: the Nerve and

Ocher Goats of the Eye, (except - A?,

the Retina, which feems to confift:
of the Medullar Fibres,) are made
by great Odds more Firm than the
Dura and the Via Mater , whence
they proceed ; and the’ Expos’d
to the Free Air, arelefs fenfibleof
the Cold than moil Parts of the

i t

Body, and will bear, without Dan¬
ger, divers Liquors, and Other
Offenfive Things, whole Pungency
would put Other Nerves of the Bo¬
dy into Convulsive , and perhaps
very Dangerous Motions. This
(Conduct) looks as if God, like an
Excellent Writing- Mafter, did, in
the great Volume of his Creatures,

Intend to be flow on feme ofThefe,

Things rather Ornamental than
NecefTary , as Flourishes ;on the
Capital Letters of the Alphabet of
Nature ; andlbmetimes, ^ Imploy
Characters , and divers of them
very differingly Shap’d, . (as the

Latin

( 208 )

Latin are from thole of the Greek ,
the Hebrew , the Saxony &c. ) to
Exprels the Same Letter ; and
lometimes alio, to Imply Abbrevia¬
tions, as a Stroke or a Dafh, in-
ftead of a Letter or a Syllable, to
Exprels Compendioufly that which
might be very Juftifiable, had it
been more Fully let down or De¬
lineated.

If That be admitted, which We
have formerly propos’d as very
Likely, that God Defign’d, by the
great Variety of His Works, to
Difplay to their Intelligent Confi-
derers, the Fecundity ( if I may
lo Ipeak ) of His Wifdom ; One
may readily conceive, that a great
part of the Variety Oblervable in
the Analogous Farts of Animals, as
their Eyes, their Mouths, &c. may
be very Conducive to lo Reaching
and Comprehenfive a Defign ; to
which the Beauty of fome Creatures
and Parts , as well as their more
NecelTary or Convenient StruQure,

( 2°P )

m w

may be fubfervient ; efpecially if
the Innocent Delight of Man be
alio Intended, as it may feem to be
in the Curious Colours and Shapes
of divers Flowers, and in the Melo¬
dious Mufick of Singing Birds, and
in the Vivid and Curioufly Varie^
gated Colours of the Feathers of
leveral Winged Animals, particu¬
larly thofe that make up the Pea¬
cocks Train,

• , ■» • ' i » * « * + \ * ~ i i

We are not near fb Competent
Judges of Wifdom, as we are of
Juftice and Veracity : For Theft
laft named are to be Eftimated by
Eternal ‘and Fixed Bounds or
Rules, which are very Intelligible
to a Moderate Underftandirig. But
as for Wifdom ; the more Pro.
found it is, the lefs we are able to
Look through it, and penetrating to
the bottom of that, to Judge know¬
ingly of its A£tions. And there¬
fore, tho* we may lafely Conclude
that God ACts Wifely, when he

that has an Admi-

■

wm

(no)

rable Tendency to thole Ends we
juftiy fuppofe him to have Defign’d;
yet we cannot fafely conclude in a
Negative way. That this or that
is Unwife, becaule we cannot Di-
fee rn in it fuch a Tendency. For
fo Wife an Agent may have Other
Defigns than we know of, and fur¬
ther Aims than we can Difeern, or
perhaps Sufpe£t : And may have
at hand, or furnifh himfelf with,
fuch Means to compafs his Ends,'
and that even by the Co-operation
of thole Means we think Ufelels or
Improper , as are far above the
reach of our Conjectures, and with¬
out the knowledge of which we
butRafbly Cenfurethe Wifdomof
his Proceedings.

In the Double Horizontal Dial
formerly mention’d, it would be
Raflily done of thole, who fhould
Condemn or Defpife the various
Lines they find trac’d upon that
ufeful Inftrument, becaufe they lee
that they are not necelfary to ihew
the Hour of the day ; fince the Ma-

thema-

1 • J

thematician that drew thofe Lines
fb curioufly, may be well fuppos’d
to have had more Ends than One or
Two in making the Inftrument,
and not to have drawn them by
Chance or Unskilfully ; tho7 the
Xnconfiderate Cenfurers do not
know, for what Other or Further
PurpoFes the Artift may have De*
fign’d them.

Suppofe lome Indian Fifherman,
unacquainted with European Arts
and Affairs, fliould happen to come
aboard a Man of W ar under Sail :
Tho7 he would quickly perceive by
the ufethat was made of the Ropes,
Pulley , &c. that this Floating
Building was very artificially Con¬
triv’d : Yet if he fihould fix his
Eyes upon one of the Guns, and
the Anchors, and perceive that no
ufe was made nor like to be made
of them in Sailing, He would be
ftrongly tempted to think, that thofe
heavy Maffes were ufelels Clogs
and Burdens to the Veflfel. But if
he were told the Necelfity and Ufe^

P 2 fulnefs

(212)

fulnefs of the Guns for Defence, and
of the Anchors to ftay the Ship in
Convenient Places in Storms ; he
would eafily Alter his mind, and
Confels, that he Blam’d the Buil¬
ders andFurnifhers of the Ship, for
That which nothing but his Igno¬
rance kept him from highly Com¬
mending.

I have dwelt much longer than
I intended on this Third Propo-
fition , becaufe I think it a Du¬
ty our Realbn owes to its Author ,
to endeavour to Vindicate his ma¬
nifold Wifdom , in this Libertine

Aue; wherein too many Men, that

have more Wit than Philofophy or
Piety, have upon Epicurean, and
feme alio even upon Cartefian,
Principles, labour’d to Depreciate
the Wifdom of God, and iome of
them preliim’d to Cenfure the Con¬
trivances of tilde living Automata,
that ( in their Protoplafts ) were
Originally His, And it was not

only the Sealonablenefs of laying,

. about

(213)

about lb Important a SubjeCt, fbme-
things that poffibly have not yet
been met with, or at leaft duly Con-
fider’d, That has made me thus
Prolix ; but a Defire, that my
Reader fhould not barely 'obferve
the Wifdom of God, but be in lome
meafure Affectively Convinc’d of
it. To which purpofe in my O-
pinion, ’tis very Conducive, it not
Neceffary,befides General Notions,
to oblerve with Attention lome
Particular Inftances of the Divine
Skill, wherein it is Conlpicuoufly
Difplay’d. ’Tis true, that in the
Idea of a Being Infinitely PerfeCt,
Boundlefs Witdom is One of the
Attributes that is Included. But
for my part, I fhall take leave to
think, that this General and Inde¬
finite Idea of the Divine Wifdom,
will not give us fo great a Wonder
and Veneration for it, as may be
produc’d in our minds, by Know¬
ing and Confidering the Admira¬
ble Contrivance of the Particular
Productions of that Immenfe Wif-

Ti' ‘ fit

ft*'

dom

dom, and their Exqnifite Fitnefs
for thofe Ends and Ules, to which
they appear to have been Defti-
nated.

PROP. IV,

That rve be not Over hajly in Con¬
cluding, nor too Poftive in AJferting ,
that This or That muB be, or is, the
f articular Dejlinated Tfe of fuch a
Thing , or the Motive that induc'd
the Author of Nature to Frame it
thus .

T has been above declar’d, That
fome Parts are fo Excellently,
and fo Manifeftly, Fitted for a cer¬
tain U!e, as the Eye for Seeing ;
and fo much better Fitted for That,
than for any Other ; that ’twere
little lefs than Heedlelsnels or Per-
verlenels, to Doubt of Its being

(2I5)

Deftinated Thereto. But the like
cannot be faid of all the Other Parts
of the Body, efpecially of the In¬
ternal. And there are divers Ufes,
' either Neceffary,or highly Condu¬
cive, to the Welfare ol the Ani-
mal, to which no One Part is fb
much more confpicuoufly Fitted
than any Other,, but that’tis more
Difficult than many think, to de¬
termine the True and Primary Id¬
les or Offices of feme Parts, efpe-
cially with fb much Certainty, as
thereon to ground Phyfiological
Inferences : And of this Difficulty
I conceive there may be four Rea-
fins, tho’ they do not All, nor per¬
haps Moft of them, occurr in Each
particular Cafe.

And Firjt, the whole Animal it
felf, the Ufe of whole particular
Parts is under inquiry, is but a Part
of that greater Body, the Vmverfe ;
and therefore cannot eafily be fup-
pos’d, to have been fram’d and fur-
nifh’d with the Parts it conlifes ol,

P 4 . meerly

( 2l6 )

tneerly for its own fake! And
when we fay, that all its Parts are
Contriv’d for the bed Advantage
for the Animal, I conceive it is to be
underftood in this Limited Senfe ;
That the Parts are excellently
fram’d for the Welfare of the Ani¬
mal, as far forth as That Welfare
is confident with the General Ends
of the Author of Nature , in the
Conftitution and Government of
theUniverfe.: which £Wr,becaufe
they relate to the whole World, or
to very confiderable Maffes of it, as
the Terraqueous Globe, the Pla¬
nets, and other Stars,I have former-'
iy,for brevity’s fake,dyl’d Cofmicd:
And thcf'it has not been prov’d,
that None of thefe Cofmicd Ends
areinyedigableby us ; yet todif-
cover them All, is not an eafie
Task. And yet it feems prelump-
tuous toluppofe, that the Welfare
of particular Animals is any fur¬
ther defign’d and provided for, than
willconfid with the Cofmicd Ends
of the Univerfe, and the Courfe of
v * “ : *• Gods

Gods General Providence ; to
which his Special or Particular
Providence, about this or that meer
Animal, ought in realbn to be Su¬
bordinated. And tho ’ I think it a
great Rafhnefs for us men to De¬
termine positively, and exclusively
to others , what Ends the Omni-
Icient Creator propos’d to himlelf,
in giving to the World the Frame
we lee it has ; yet, as far as I can
hitherto dilcern, I lee nothing that
is more likely to have been One
Grand Motive of lb great a Variety
; as we may obferve in his Corpo¬
real Works, efpecially in Animals,
1 than that which hath in part been
elfewhere intimated, viz,. That He
might, by fo many and fo very
differing Contrivances, as are to be
met with in the Stru&ure of Men,
Four-footed Beafts , Birds , Fifhes,
Reptiles , &'c. Exercife and Dil-
i play ( what chuld not be by a lefs
I; Variety lb fully manifefted ) that
which an j*poftle9{\ peak-

;

. )'

\

v

ing of things of ano-

•J

Ephef. 3. io*

ther

V

ther Order, Emphatically ftyles
the 'tdAu- TroijqA©^ dz>(plcc T& 0g3
Multifarious or Manifold W ifdom. of
God.) Man being acknowledg’d,
upon the account of his very Body,
the molt Perfect of Animals ; if
God had limply Defign’d the giving
of every Animal, the moft Advan¬
tageous Stru&ure that could be de¬
vis’d, it leems that He fhould have
Made no Other Animals than Men.
But then there could not have been
that Diverfity of Contrivance a~
mong Living Automata, that does
io much recommend the Wifdom
of Him, that could Frame lb Many
and lb Differing Animals, tho7 not
All of them equally Perfect, yet
All of them admirably Furnifh’d
for thole Purpofes to which He De-
ftinated them. " And therefore it
does not .argue any Want of Provi¬
dence*, that He has # ot Furnifh’d
Man with Wings, as he hath Birds;
nor Fifhes with four Feet; nor
Birds with Fins and Scales : be-
caufe thefe Parts would have been

either

(219)

either Superfluous and Burthenfom,
or would not have Suited with his
Defign, of making Some Animals
Live on the Earth, and Some in the
Wafer ; And if He Defign’d any
to Live, tho’ not equally, in Both,
He furnifh’d Them, with Parts of a
Peculiar Stru&ure, as I have elfe-
where noted of the Beaver and the
Frog . If it were not for the fore-
mentioned Confideration, ’twould
be hard to give a Reafon, why Ve¬
getables were not made the Food of
all Animals ; But Some fhould be
Carnivorous, and furniflTd with
Appetites and Organs to Devour
Others, and Live, as Birds and
Beafts of Prey do, upon the De-
ftru&ion of the Weaker. And
’twill be hard to fhew, why, even
in Animals of the fame Kind, the
Safety of Some fhould be fb much
I better Provided for than that of
i Others ; as We fee , that fbme
Ants , ard fbme Glow-worms ,
*are Furniih’d with Wings ; and
Some not. And in Mankind

itfelf.

( 22© )

itfelf, Thofe of the Female Sex are
not lb happily Fram’d, in order to
their own Welfare, as Thofe of the
Mafculine: Since the Womb, and
other Things peculiar to Women,
which are not Nectfl^ry to the'
Good of Individual Perfbns, but
to the Propagation of their Spe¬
cies, lubjeQ: that tender Sex to a
whole Set of Difeafes, belonging
to them either peculiarly, as they
are Women, or as they are with
Child, or brought to Bed ; from
all which Men are exempt. So
that, to apply thefe Things to Our
prefent Purpofe ; Men may (bme-
times Miftakc, when they peremp¬
torily Conclude, that This or That
Part of an Animal Muft, or Can¬
not, have been Fram’d for fuch an
Ufe, without Conhdering the Cof-
micd , and therefore Primary and
Over-ruling, Ends, that may have
been Defign’d by Nxture in the
Conftrudion of the whole Ani¬
mal.

c Secondly,

( 221 )

Secondly , Men fometimes erro-
neoully Conclude, that flich anOf-
I fice cannot belong to fiich a Part,

I becaufe they think , It is not fo
Commodioufly Framed for it, as
may be wiflh’d or devis’d ; with¬
out confidering, whether the Stru¬
cture which they Fancy would do
Better for that; Particular Life, would
not, in feme Other as confiderable
Regard, Oppofe the Welfare of the
Animal : Or, whether it would be
coniiftent with the Other Flies de-
fign’d by Nature in that iort of
Living Creatures. For in the Li-
I ving Works of lb Excellent an In-
] geneer as Nature^ it muft not be
I expeCted, that any Particular End
fhould be profecuted to the Preju¬
dice of the Whole ; but rather it
I muft be fiippos’d, that She Aims
not only at Particular Expedients,
i but Univerial Symmetry ; and does
indeed excellently Fit the feveral
Parts, for their refpe&ive Offices ;
i but yet only as far forth as a due
Regard to the Defign and Welfare

I

( 222 )

of the Whole will permit. The
Realonablenels of this Oblervation,
One need but be moderately Exer¬
cis’d in Zootomy (as That is di-
ftinguifh’d from Androtomy ) to
dilcern. For, tho ’ Man be confefs’d
to be the moft Perfeftly Fram’d
Animal in the World ; yet , His
Body is not made the Model , on
which Nature has Fram’d the Cor-
refpondent Parts of Other Animals*
The Lungs of Dogs, of Birds, of
Frogs and Vipers, and I know not
how many Others, are of a Stru*
fture very differing from Thole of
Man. He is not furnifh’d with lb
many Stomachs as an Oxe or a
Sheep, becaule Nature Intended not
He fhoald Ruminate like Them*
Tho* His Gall be lodg’d in a pecu¬
liar Bag, fb Plac’d in the Liver, as
to give HAmont a colour to call it
Nucleus Hepatis ; yet ’twere unad¬
vis’d to lay. That the Secretion of
Gall is none of the tlfes of Thole
Livers, wherein Such a Cyfiis is not
to be met with : Since in Some A-

mals,

( 223 )

mals, as in Horfes and Pigeons,
that Bitter Humour, ( which in
Frogs I have often oberved to be of
a Deep and Tranfparent Green,) is
not ufually, as in Man, collected
into one Bag : And in Vipers , tho*
it be included in one CyjHs , yet, as
far as I have obferved, That Bag
does not at all touch the Liver :
And ftore of fuch Inftances may
be met with among the Remarks
of Zootomifts : Wherefore I pafs
on toOblerve,

.. * - ■ 4 "• v •

That, in the Third place , ’Tis
Difficult to Determine the True
and Primary Ufe of a Part, becaule
Nature does often Fit One Part for
Several Ufes. To which I fhall add,

In the Fourth place, That the
Difficulty is fometimes Increas’d,
becaufe Nature may compafs the
Same End by Several Means, each
of them Sufficiently, tho’ not E-
qually, Commodious. I joyn thele
Two together, becaule in Effect

they

( 2*4 )

they do often Concur, in making
it Difficult to determin the True
life of a Fart. And the latter of
the Two is fometimes Increas’d by
this, that Nature does not as Con-
, ftantly, as fome Men prefume She
does , Imploy only one Part to
perform fuch an Office ; but the
Intended Effect is fometimes pro¬
duc’d by a Series of fucceffive Ope¬
rations, to which foveral Parts may
in Differing manners Contribute.

' r* ! •

t ' v. __ ' k r-t

And here I oblerve, (what per¬
haps has not been Coafider’d,) that
neither the Mechanifin of a Human
Body, nor that of very Confidera-
ble Parts of It, is to be judg’d of,
only by the Structure of the Vifible *
Parts, whether they be thoie Solid
or Stable Ones that the Anatomift’s
Knife is wont to expole to Sight ;
or even by the Texture of thole
Fluid Ones, which are to be found
in the Velfels and Cavities of a,
Dead Body when Diife&ed , tho*
never fo Skilfully. For I take the

Body

N

(»j).

I " • * '

Body of a Living Man to be a very
Compounded Engine, fuch as Me¬
chanicians would call Hydraulico *
Pneumatic al : Many of whole Fun¬
ctions, (if not the Chiefeft,) are
perform’d , not by the Blood and
other Fifth le Fluids barely as they
are Liquors ; but partly by their
Circulating and other Motions ;
and partly by a very Agile and In-
vifible fort of Fluids, call’d Spirits ,
Vital and Animal ; and partly per¬
haps, (as I have fometimes gues’d,)
by little Springy Particles \ and
perhaps too , by lomewhat that
may be call’d the Vital Portion of
the Air ; and by Things.Analog.ous
to Local Ferments : the Important
Operations of all which are wont
| to Ceale with Life, and the Agents
j themlelves are not to be Dilcern’d
in a Dead Body. So that, befides
thole Manifell: Ufes, which the Vi-
i fible Fabrick of the Engine may
fuggeft to an Anatomift ; there
may be Chymical lifts (if I may
fb call them) of fome Parts, that

ferve

%

ferve for the Elaboration of Spirits
and other Fluids : Which Ufes, (as
’twas formerly Obferv’d, and yet
ought to be Inculcated,) are not
fuggefted to the Anatomifts , as '
Such, by the Infpeftion of the Stru-
• &ure of the Parts ; but to Difcern
them may require no mean Skill
in Spagyrical Principles and Ope¬
rations.

V r ‘ ’ O *1 ‘ ‘ * t ’ i : /

- Such Confederations as the fore¬
going, make me think it more dif¬
ficult than many do, todetermin
with any certainty the -Main Uie
of divers Particular Parts, [ for in '
lame Others it feems manifeft e-
nough ; ] efpecially if it be done
with the Exclufion of Other Ufes.
Nor is it enough, to Secure us that
we know the Chief Fun&ion and
End of aPart, to Know that it is
contrived for fuch a Purpofe. For
upon the things I have lately repre-
fented, One may ground this An-
fwer, that this Fitnefs hinders not,
but that the Primary life of the
• . Part

« 1 L ■ *. **

• r

( 227)

Part may be another, (as not Ana¬
tomical but Chymical, or Vice Ver-
/*>) more Conducive to the Gene¬
ral Welfare of the Animal, or elfe
to the Cofmical Ends of Nature.
And it ought not to feem Strange,
thatlome Pieces ofWorkmanfhip,
that confift of many Parts, ail of
them Curioufly Contriv’d , may
by One Learned Man be guefs’d to
be Intended for This Ule, and by
Others for That Ufe, and yet Both
thele Ules may be worthy of the
Artificer.

■ : <

When lome very Politick Prince
does fome Great Thing, without de¬
claring Why ; the Gueffes of the
States Men are often very differing,
whilft yet none of them afcribe to
Him a Defign misbecoming a
Wife Man. And fb, when a
Learned Author ExprelTes himfelf,
as fometimes it happens, Ambi-
guoufly , tho’ One Reader Inter¬
prets his words to This Senfe, and
Another to That , yet Both the

Q^2 Senfes

(«8)

Senfes pitch’d on, may fairly com¬
port with the Context , and the
main Scope of the W riter. Thete
things, I lay, becaufe I would by no
means Difparage the Wifdom of
Nature, by propofing the Difficul¬
ties I have hitherto mentioned ;
tho’ I confels , that, upon the ac¬
count of Thefe and lome Others,
I look upon many of the Argu¬
ments that feveral Authors have
made bold to draw from Final fau-
feS but as Conje&ural Things.
And in divers Cafes, I allow what
is fueeefted to me upon the Suppo-
fitionof the Intended Ufes of Parti¬
cular Parts, rather as good Hints
to Excite, and give feme Aim to,
a Severer Inquiry, than as lafe
Grounds to build Phyfical Conclu-

lions on.

PROP.

(2 3p )

prop. y.

I come now to the Laft Caution
I would recommend to you, about
the Confideration of Final Caufes ;
and I fhall prefent it you in this
Propofition : That the Naturalijl
fhould not fuffer the Search or the
Difcovery of a Final Caule of Na¬
tures Works jo make him ‘ Undervalue
or Neglett the Jtudious Indagation of

their Efficient Caufes .

\

’’T'Ts true, that to Inquire, To ,
I what Purpofe Nature would
have luch or fuch Effects produc’d,
is a Curiofity worthy of a Rational
Creature , upon, the fcore of his
being fo. But this is not the pro-
per Task of a Naturalijl , whole
Work, as he is Such, is not fc much
to Difcover why, as how , Particular

Qjj ■ - Effefts

I

’ ( 2 3° )

Effe&s are Produc’d. A Country-
Fellow here in England knows
fbmething of a W atch, becaule he
is able to tell you, that ’tis an In-
ftrument that an Artificer made
to Mealiire Time by : and That is
more than every American Savage
would be able to tell you ; and
more than thole Civiliz’d Chinefes
knew, that took the fir ft Watch
the Jefuit brought thither, for a
Living Creature. But the Englifh
Countryman, that knows no more
of a Watch, than that’twas made
to fhew the Hour of the Day, does
very little underftand the Nature
of It. And whereas the two Scopes,
that Men are wont to Aim at in the
Study of Phy licks, are to Under¬
ftand, how and after what man¬
ner Nature Produces the Phenome¬
non we Contemplate ; and, in cafe
it be Imitahle by Us, how We may,
if Occasion require, Produce the
Like Erfe£t,‘ or come as Near it as *
may be : Thcfe Ends cannot be
attained by the bare Knowledg of

the

(23l )

the Final Caules of Things, nor of
the General Efficient. But to
Anfwer thole Aims, we mull: know
the Particular Efficients, and the
Manner and Progrels of their Ope¬
rating, and what Difpofitions they
either Find or Produce in the Mat¬
ter they work upon : as, He that
would throughly underftand the
Nature of a Watch, mud not reft
fatisfied with knowing in General,
that a Man Made it, and that he
Made it for fuch Ules : but he muft
Particularly know, of what Mate¬
rials, the Spring, the Wheels, the
String or Chain, and the Ballance,
are made : He muft know the Num¬
ber of the Wheels, their Bignefs,
their Shape , their Situation and
Connexion in the Engine, and af¬
ter what manner One Part Moves
the Other in the whole Series of
Motions, from the Expanfive En¬
deavour of the Spring, to the Mo¬
tion of the Index that Points at the
Hours. And much more muft a

Q3 Mecha-

(a*1)

Mechanician know this, if he
means to be able to Make a W atch
Himfelf, or Give fufficient Inftru-
ftions to Another Man , that is
more Handy , to do- it for him.
In fhort, the Neglefl; of Efficient
Caufes would render Phyfiology
Ulelefs : But the ftudious Indaga-
tion of them, will not Prejudice
the Contemplation of Final Caufes.
For, fince ’tis Truly faid, if it be
rightly underftood, that Opus Na¬
ture esl opus Intelligent i£ ; the Wile
Author of Nature has lo excellently
Contriv’d the Univerfe, that the
more Clearly and Particularly we
Difcern,how Congruous the Means
are to the Ends to be obtain’d by
them, the more Plainly we Dilcern
the Admirable Wifdorn of the
Omnifcient Author of Things ; of
' whom it is Truly faid by a Prophet,
that He is Wonderful in
Ua. 20. 29. Counfel, and Excellent in
Working. Nor will the
Sufficiency of the Intermediate

Caules,

(*V$)

Caufes, make it needlefs to admit ,
a Firft and Supreme Caule : Since
(to inculcate on thisOccafion what
I more fully deliver in another Pa¬
per,) That Order of Things.by ver-'
tue of which thele Means become
lufficient to fuch Ends, muft have
been at firft Inftituted by an Intel¬
ligent Caule, And if it be Irratio¬
nal to Alcribe«the Excellent Fa-
brick of the Univerfe, fuch as it
now is, and the A&ions that have
manifeft .Tendencies to Determi¬
nate Uleful Ends , To fo Blind a
Caule as Chance ; it will be rather
More than Lels Irrational, to A-
Icribe to Chance the First Formation
of the Univerle, of which the Pre-
lent State of Things is but the Na¬
tural Conlequence or E fleet. For
it may indeed be plaufibly laid, that
in the Prefent State of Things, the
leveral Patts of the Univerle are by
the Contrivance of the W hole de¬
termin'd, and thereby qualify' d, to
Attain their Ends. But it cannot

be

fli

. I

( 234)

be Rationally Pretended, that at
the Fir ft Framing of the World ,
there was a Sufficiency in the Stupid
Materials of It, without any Par¬
ticular Guidance of a moft Wife Su¬
perintendent , to Frame Bodies ft)
Excellently Contriv’d and Fitted
to their refpedive Ends*

-4 •

THE

v . IV

THE

CONCLUSION.

I

V •• ^

THe Retult of what has been
hitherto Difcours’d , upon
the Four Queftions Propos’d at the
Beginning of this Small Treatife,
amounts in fhort to this :

T hat all Confideration of Final
Caufes is not to be Ban i fil’d from
Natural Philolbphy : but that ’tis
rather Allowable, and in lome
Cates Commendable , to Oblerve
and Argue from the Manifeft Utes
of Things, that the Author of Na¬
ture Pre-ordain’d thole Ends and
Utes.

That the Sun, Moon, and other
Cceleftial Bodies, excellently De¬
clare

clare the Power and Wildom, and
conlequently the Glory of God ;
and were Some of Them, among
Other Purpofes, made to be Ser*
viceable to Man.

That from the Suppoled Ends of
Inanimate Bodies, whether Ccele-
ftial or Sublunary, ’tis very Unlafe
to Draw Arguments to Prove the
Particular Nature of Thole Bo¬
dies, or the True Syftern of the
Univerfe.

That as to Animals, and the
more Perfe£t Sorts of Vegetables ;
5tis Warrantable , not Prelump-
tuous, to Say, Thatlixch and fuch
Parts were Pre-ordained to fuch
and fuch Ules , relating to the
Welfare of the Animal (or Plant)
itlelf, or the Species it belongs to :
But that Such Arguments may eafi-
ly Deceive, if Thole that Frame
them are not very Cautious, and
Careful to avoid Miftaking, among
the various Ends that Nature may

’ have

have in the Contrivance of an Ani¬
mal’s Body, and the various W ays
which fhe may fuccefsfully take to

compafs the fame Ends. And,

*

That however, a Naturalifi , who
would Deferve that Name, muft
not let the Search or Knowledge of
Final Caufes , make him Negleft.
the Induftrious Indagation of Effi¬
cients.

F INIS.

* ffii

SOME

UNCOMMON

OBSERVATIONS

ABOUT

VITIATED

SIGHT

A dir A

. fitrt <rft> t$o

LONDON:

%

Printed for J. Taylor ^ at the Ship in
St, Church-Yard, idBB.

*4'

Aclvertifement.

■ » • ,

- : v> ; . Cv ’ • 4 : -

^He F ollowingOhfer- \
nations were not
written , with Inten¬
tion that they Should he An¬
nex’d to the Foregoing Elfay }
but to Gratify a Philofoyhi-
cal Phyfician. Which is the
Keafon why , hefides thofe
things that are more purely
Optical , l thought jit to
mention Some Others , that
might he either ZJfeful or

R. Grateful

M

Advertifement.

Grateful to an Inquifitive
Man of bis Profefjion. But
haruim allow dt be Stationer to

o

Expe6f,tbat this Boof^thd it
have for T itle but an EfTay,
jhmldnotbe of too inconfider-
able a Buff; I made choice
of tbefe Papers, among Se
veral that lay by me, to in-
creafe the Bignefs of the
Boohy Becaufe that , the
Ey es being tboje Parts of the
Bodies of 'Men and othtr

Animals, that / pitch? dupon
in the Foregoing Treatife, to
Strengthen the ‘DoBrine de t
in At a

Canfes;

Advertifement .

C aufes; itfeemd Suitable E-
nough to my Subject and
Dejign , to mention fome "Un¬
common Things that related
to ZJifion or the Organs of , it,
that I'Ve may be invited both
to Admire the Wifdom of
God, which, to furnijh Man
with a Senfe that requires the
Concourfe of Jo very many
things, has , if l may fo fpealj,
Qrowded them into fo Small
an Engine as an Eye • and
to Celebrate his Goodnefs too,
which has been Difplayd
in that,notwithftanding that
the Eye is fo very Com-
R. 2 pounded

Advertilement.

founded a Fart, and the
Sight fo eafily Vitiated yet
the mofi fart of Men by far
do, from their Cradles to
their Graves, enjoy the Be¬
nefit and Comfort offio Ne-
cejfary and Noble a Senfe.

< V V ! • ■. i . VJ- ^

" V 4 %

1 9

J ■ 7) ' » ’ ~ r A C>. *i r

) ‘ v 1 \WvJ

X,

0

1 %<r < * r '

■ * . , ^ * \ 1 l \ 4 *. ■' '

-*l 4 % 4 4 • * * "m ^ \J ^ » A *4 H « m0 i i

, t f

OBSERV.

s

(245 )

OBSERVATIONS

f j , ABOUT

VITIATED

SIGH T

OBSERV I. .

Examining a Gentleman, that.

was already/ Almoft Blind,
and fear’d to grow Altogether
fo, about the Symptoms of his
Difeafe, ( which came with a Stroke
upon his Head ) I found, as I ex¬
pedited, by his Anfwers, that, tho’
he could not any thing well dis*
tinguifh Objects ot Other Colors,
Yet he could well perceive thole

that

( )

that were White, to be of That
Colour. Which confirms what

t _ _ m _ _ _

I mention in the Hiftory of Colours,
concerning the great Quantity of
Light, that is Refle£ked by White
Objefts, in companion of thole
that are otherwile Colour’d. And
this Oblervation it Self was con¬
firm’d by another Patient, who,
tho’ almoft Blind, could yet di£ ;
cern W hite Obje&s . '

O B S E R V. II.

I Knew a Gentleman that had a
Catara£l growing, which, when
1 look’d on his Eye in a lightfbm
place, appear’d to cover almoft
juft the Upper Part of the Pupil;
and tho5 He were a Y oung Vigorous
Ferion, and the Weather was ve¬
ry Clear, he could not well difcern
Men from Women croft the
Street. But this Gentlemans Mis¬
fortune came by a great Stroke he
received onth at Side of his Head,
whereof hefhew’d me the Scar ;

which

(247 )

which Circumftance I therefore
Note, becaule when no Outward
Violence has been offer’d to the
Eye, it has been oblerved by a good
Oculift, and, iflmifremember not,
I have Seen an Inftance of it, That
a finall Part of the Pupil, left un¬
cover’d by the CataraSt, would
lerve for more Sight than the Gen¬
tleman enjoy’d. In him likewile I
had a further Confirmation , of
what I was lately Obferving about
the Confpicuoulnels of White Ob'
jeds. For tho’ he could not, as I
was laying, difcern Men and
Women that pafs’d by, on the o-
ther Side of the Street, yet, having
once defired him to tell me, if he
could diftinguifh any Objed there,
he told me that he could ; and
that I might no longer Doubt of it,
when I asked him what he faw, he
laid that it was a Woman that
pafs’d by with a White Apron,
which Apron he faw diredly,
and therefore might eafily con¬
clude, without diftindly leeing the

R 4 Wearer,

( H8 )

Wearer, that the Perfbn that Wore
it was a Woman.

O B S E R V- III.

i\ * ’ ' * • ‘ \ • ' v '

MEeting accidentally with a
Man, by Profehion a Far¬
rier, whole Eyes look’d very odly,
Iqueftioned him about hisDiftem-
per ; and found by his anfwers, that
he had had Cataracts in both his
Eyes , but either had them ill
Couch’d, or had not behaved him-
leli orderly afterwards. For there
Seemed ftill to be ragged Films,
that cover’d conliderable portions
of his Pupils; in lb much that I lorn*
what wonder’d to fee him go free¬
ly about, as he did, without requi¬
ring any body to help him, lo much
as up or down Stairs: and I hereupon
asking him, whether he were able
to Read in a large Print, he told me |
he was, with the help of his Cataract
Spectacles^ they call them, which I
doubting of, brought him a Book,
whofeTitle Page he was not able to

Read

( 249 ) .

Read ; this he Excus’d by faying
that the place was too Lightlbm,
which tho’ it did not Seem to O-
thers, yet, confidering that it was
about Noon, I caus’d the Room to
be a little darken’d, and then per¬
ceived that indeed he could Read
well Enough.

O B S E R V. IV.

A Gentleman, having in a quar¬
rel receiv’d a Stroke on one
Side of his Head, which knock’d
him down, found afterwards a great
Weaknefsand dimnefs in his Eyes;
into which when I look’d atten¬
tively, I plainly dilcern’d, that tho’
above one half of his Pupil was yet
uncover’d, fb that when he look’d
downwards, he could See well e-
nough with That Eye, yet there
was grown in it no lefs than two Ca >
tara&s, which, when I look’d on
them attentively, and in a good
Light, I could manifestly perceive
to be Diftinft ; the One of them
: leeming

feeming to be Imooth f pread, as if
its Circular Edge adher’d cloiely to
the infide of the Eye;and the Other,
that feem’d not altogether of the
fame Colour, hanging loolely, and
as it were a Rag, at lome diftance
above it. _ What afterwards be¬
came of this Gedtleman I could not
learn , tho’ I would gladly have
done it; Two Cataracts at a time in
one Eye being lome what Extraor¬
dinary.

O B S F R V. V.

A Learned Gentleman coming
once to vifitme, withdefign,
as 1 afterward’s perceive’d, to hear
my Opinion concerning an odd DiC
temper he had in his Eyes; I found,
by Dilcourling with him concer¬
ning the P httnomena of his Dileale,
that tb(P, when he look’d on Ob¬
jects near at hand, he Saw them
Somewhat .Dimly, but yet Single,
yet, there were fome Objefts, par¬
ticularly Polls and Rails, which,

when

(250

( * f

when he beheld at a certain di-
ftance ( which was not very great )
they appear’d to him both more
Dark and Double. I found alfothat
he complained of divers Black Flyes
and litle Leaves, that pafs’d now
and then before his Eyes ; which,
tbo' they do not always fore-bode
a True Cataraft, fince Others arid I
alio have obferv’d them to continue
many years without being more
than a Bajlard Suffusion ( as Phy-
ficians Speake ) yet in him they
were probably Forerunners of a
j True Catara£t ; in regard that I
have known it obferv’d by a skil¬
ful Oculift, that lome Perfons, be¬
fore their Catara£t,have complain’d
that at fome Diftances they faw
Obje&s almoft Double; fo that loo¬
king at ones Head, they thought
they Saw a great part of a Dark
Head a little above it: which De-
lcription, whether it proceeded from
fome Refra&ions made by the yet
not Uniformly Opacous Matter of
the Cataraft , not having oppor¬
tunity

C 252)

tunity to examine thole Perlons my
lelf, I dare not Venture to lay.

O B S E R V. VI*

• y \ ' 1 * » *) \ ‘ .

IT may be worth Obferving,
Bow long The better fort of Ca¬
taracts, tho’ they hinder Sight for a
time, as a thick Curtain drawn
crofs the Pupil, yet may remain in
the Eye, without Spoiling the Optic
Nerve or hindringVifion when once
the CataraCt is remov’d; Of which
I remember, among other Inftan-
ces, I took notice in the Cafe of a
Woman, who told me fhehad Ca-
tarads in her Eyes fo long, that
fhe was brought a Bed of Six ChiU
dren confecutiveiy, without being
able to See any one of them, till
after (he was Cur’d by having the
Catarads Couched. But then fhe
I* ,v law fo well, that with Spedacles

Ihe could read in a portable Bible
of a fmall Print. And divers confi-
derable Perfons of my Acquaintance
&w One of Eighteen years Old,

born ,

(2*3)

born with CataraQs in both her
Eyes, Who not naturally Wanting
the Faculty of Seeing, tho’ thus Hin¬
der’d of the Exercile of it, had been
lo happily Couched, as afterwards
to have the benefit of Sight in them
both.

O B S E R V. VII.

WOil v 'I-' it x, ll’J’

IT hasten of late the Opinion
of very Learned men, that tho
Both bur Eyes be Open and turn’d
towards an Object, yet ’tis but One
of them at a time that is effectually
Imployed in giving us the Repre-
lentation of it. W hich Opinion, in
this place where I am writing but
Obfervations, it were not proper to
Difcufs ; efpecially becaufe what
is fuppos’d to be Obferv’d, will not
always Uniformly happen, but
may much Vary in particular Per-
fons, according to their • feveral
Cuftoms , and the Conftitution of
their Eyes. For I have, by an Ex¬
periment purpofely made, feveral
■}..} . . - ‘ times

(*54)

times found, that my Two Eyes
Together fee an Object in another
Situation , than Either of them
Apart would do. On the other
fide ; I met with a Perfbn , who
told me he had a Cataraffc in his
Eye for two Years, without dilcer-
ning that he had any fiich Impedi¬
ment in either of his Eyes; and
when I ask’d him, how he knew
that, he anfwer’d me, that others
had taken notice of a white Filme
that crols’d his Eye, lo long before
he himlelf did. But not knowing
what a Catara&was, and not find¬
ing him to complain of it at all him*
lelf, the Tbing remain’d unheeded,
till the Patient, having one day oc-
cafion to Rub his Sound Eye, whilfl
the Lid cover’d it, was fadly Sur¬
priz’d to find himlelf altogether
in the Dark ; and then reforting
to an Oeulift, was affur’d it was a
Catatafir, which, awhile before I
met with him, had been Couch’d.
But notwithftanding this Relation,
what I had try’d about the Ufing

‘ ' of

of Both Eyes, made me ask of a
very Ingenious Perfbn, that by an
Accident had fome months before
one of his Eyes ftruckout, whether
he did not obierve, that upon the
being confin’d to the ule of One Eye
he was apt to miftakethe Situati¬
on and Diftances of things. To
which he anfwer’d me, that have-
ing frequently occafion to pour
Diftill’d Waters and other Liquors
out of one Vial into an other, after
this Accident he often Spilt his
Liquors, by pouring quite Befides
the necks of the Vials he thought
he was pouring them dire&ly Into.
Afterwards inquiring of a Gentle¬
man that was a Goodfellow , and
had by a Wound a while before
loft the ufe of One of his Eyes; he
confefs’d to me, that divers times
pouring the Wine out of one Veffel
into another , he would mifs the
Orifice of the Bottle or Glafsthat
fhould receive it, and expofe hirn-
lelf to the merriment of the Com¬
pany. A yet more confiderableln-

ftance

(mO

ftance of Such Miftakes, I after¬
wards had from a Noble Perfon ,
who having in a Fight, where he
play’d the Hero , had one of. his
Eyes ftrangely Shot out, by a Mus-
quet-Bullet that came out at his
Moiith; anfwer’d me, that not only
he could not well Pour Drink
out of one Vcffel into another, but
had Broken many Gaffes, by let¬
ting them fall out of His Hand,
when he thought he had put them
into Anothers,or fet them down up¬
on a Table. And he added, that
this aptnefse to misjudge of Di-
ftances and Situations continued
with him, tho’ not in the lame De¬
gree, for little lefs than Two Years.
But on this occafion I (hall take
notice that, I have often imployed
a Dextrous Artificer, whofe Right
Eye (for in his Left there is nothing
more remarkable ) is conftantly
drawn lb much a fide towards the
greater Angle of the Eye, that the
Edge of the Pupil does almoft
touch it and one would think it

Icarce

t

• mm .a*.

' ( l * * * S57 )

fcarce poffible, but that he fhould
, ' fee theObjefl: double with two Eyes
that feem fo very differingly turn’d;
and yet he anlwer’d me, that he
does not fee at all, nor that he finds
any Inconvenience, fave the Defor¬
mity of this Unufuai Situation of
his Right Eye, which hinders him
not from Reading as freely as other
Men. i This Accident happend to
him by an unwary Miftake of Sub¬
limate for another thing*, after
which, it feems one of theMufcles
that mov’d the Eye, remain’d Con¬
trasted. But this having happen’d
to him, as I found by Inquiry, ever
fince he was two Years or Age ;

| he could not remember whether he
j had feen QbjeQs Double, before he
j was accuftom’d to judge of them v
by the help of his other Senfes, and
the Information of Others.

I OBSERV. VIII.

ITmaybe worth while to Obferve,

that a very great Diftention

may, be made of the Parts of the

S ' Eye,

( 258 )

Eye, without Spoiling the Sight ;
of which I lately faw an Inftance
in a Patient of that Ingenious and
Experienced Gculifi , Dr. Turber-
*vill. This w7as a Gentlewoman
about one or two and twenty years
of Age, Whole Complexion and
Features would have made her
Handfem, if fhe had not had that
iort of Eyes, which tho’ rarely
met with, fome call Ox-Eyes;
for Hers were fwelFd much be¬
yond the lize of Human Eyes, in
fo much, that die complain’d, they
often frighted thole that law Her,
and were indeed lo Big, that Ihe
could not move them to the Right
Hand or the Left, but was con-
ftrain’d to look ftrait forward ; or
if Hie would lee an Objebt that
lay Afide, fhe was oblig’d to turn
her Whole Head that way. And
fb fhe anfwer’d me fhe was, when
fhe let herlelf to Read in a Book,
unlefs fhe did with her Hand move
the Book from one fide to another,
to bring the ends of the Lines di-

; reftly

C 25 9 )

reftly before her Eyes. She told
me her Eyes did not always retain
the fa me meafure of Tumidnels,
and that the very day I fawthern|
they had been in the Morning much
more Swelled than when X look’d
upon Her. But that which was
more remarkable, was, that not
only file could, for all this, See
very well and diftinStly, and, as
X juft now intimated, could Read
Books, but her Sight had continued
good, tho’ file had this Diftemper
theft twrelve y^ars. # And, which
is more ftrange, ftie anfwer’d me,
that her Vifive Power was fb little
Prejudic’d by this Diftemper, when
it firft came upon her, that file ne¬
ver knew any thing was amifs in
her Eyes, till her Friends told her
of it, whenthey found it had con¬
tinued too long to be a meerlyCa-
fual and Tranfient Tumor. But,
tho’ this odd Accident did not Im,
pair her Sight, it occafion’d great
Pains in her Eyes, for which fee
took Purging and other Medicines,

S 2 with

( %6o )

with fo little Succefs, that both die'
and her former Phylicians, thought
her cafe Defperate ; there appear¬
ing no way of diflodging a Humour
folong fettled there. Upon which
I propos’d Salivation, as the lea ft
unlikely way that remain’d, to Re-
folve and carry off the Peccant
Humour. But this, tho’ much ap¬
prov’d by her Doftor, the Modeft
Patient would by no means con-
fent to.

OBSERvC IX.

I Once look’d into the Eyes of a
Gentlewoman, where I could
d ifcer n nothing that was Amifs,
or any thing that was unufual, fave
the Narrownefs of her Pupils,
which is often efteem’d a good Sign.
And yet this Woman was much
troubled with Fumes and Weak-
neffes of the Head, and had a DiF
affeftion of Sight very Uncommon;
for file told me, that, whereas in
the Day time her Sight was fo
Dimm that file conld hardly diP

- cern

' ( 26 1 )

cern her way ; foon after Sun-let,
and during the Twilight, Hie could
dilcern things far better. And in
this Condition file had continued
a good while: In which odd Cafe,
whether the Imallnefs o! herPupils,
which might poffibiy be Contradl-
ed too much by the Day-light, and
might be Expanded by the Recels
of lo much Light ; or the grea¬
ter Diffipation of the Vi five Spirits
at one time than at the other, may
have any Intreft,I fha!l not now flay
to Enquire* But this Patient brings
into my mindthe rare Cafe of aLear*
ned old Divine, who complain’d to
me that he was forced to write his
Letters and Books byNight,becau(e,
during the Day-time, his Right
Hand Brook fb much that he could
not manage a Pen, and therefore
was forc’d to make uie of it only
by Candle-light. And I remem¬
ber that, upon his preding me to
propoie fome Poflibis Carrie of fo
odd a Ph£ftt)mertM7 I told him, to
put him off, that perchance the
t :.r S3'. few

2^2 ) .

/

few Animal Spirits that he had to
Move his Hands with, were lo Sub¬
tile as to be Diffipated or Exhal’d
by the Warmth of the Day, but
were kept in by the Coldnefs of the
Night, that fomewhat conftipated
his Pores ; and commended to him
the ufe of ftrengthning things, and,
among the reft, of Chocolate;which
when for fometime he had continu’d
to drink ; he came tome, and told
me with joy, that he began again
to be able to Write in the Day, and
fol think he can do yet. But this
'Upon the by. '

O B S E R V. X.

BEing acquainted with two La¬
dies of very diftant Ages, but
very near of Kin, who were both
of them troubled withDiftempers,
that made me guefs their Eyes
might fomtimes be oddly Affe£bed,
I Enquired of them, whether they
were not troubled with hidden Ap¬
paritions of Flame orFire ? to which
, » one

(2^3 ) .

one of themanfwer’d me, that often¬
times there would appear to her
Multitudes,as (lie fancied, of Sparks
of Fire, that were very unwelcome
to her. And the other Lady, that
was fubject to Convullive, but not
Epileptick, Fits, told me, fhe di¬
vers times faw, as fhe fancied, fuch
Flalhes of Fire as I had mentioned,
pals before her Eyes, which at firft
did not a little Frighten her.

OBSERV. XI.

"'He following Oblervation is
_ odd enough, to give rile to ,
fome curious Speculations and Dif-
putes : And therefore I chafe to
fet it down as I found it among my
Jdverfmtt , tho’ I fufped part of
it to have been loft, that the Rela¬
tion may be the more Unbiafs’d,
tho’ if I had another opportu-
nity'to Difcourle with the Patient,

I fhould upon fecond Thoughts,
have ask’d fome Queftions, and
Written down feme Circumftan-

S 4. ces

- , Mi t CMr

ces, that I now with had not been
omitted.

. .

The Gentlewoman I few to day,
feems to be about 18 or twenty
years old, and is of a fine Complex-
ion;- accompanied with good Fea¬
tures. Looking into her Eyes,
which are Gray, I could .not dit
cern any thing that was unufual or
amils ;tho’ her Eye-lids were fom-
what Red, whether from Heat, or
which feemed more likely, from
her precedent Weeping. During
the very little time that the Com¬
pany allowed me to {peak with her,
the Queftions I propos’d to her
were anfwered to this Effedt.

That about five years ago, ha¬
ving been upon a certain Occafion
immoderately tormented with Bli¬
tters, applied to her Neck and
other Parts, file was cjuit deprived
of her fight.

That

. ,>'/ -V« li.fftf-

That fometime after fhe began
to perceive the Light, but nothing
by the help of it: That then file
could fee a Window, without diC*
cerning the Panes or the Barrs :
That afterwards file grew able to
diftinguifh the Shapes of Bodies,
and Tome of their Colours : And
that at laft (lie came to be able to
fee the Minuted ObjeQ: ; which
when I feemed to doubt of, and
prefented her a Book, file not only
without hefitancy Read in it a line
or two, ( fot hef Eyes are quickly
weary) but having pointed with
my Finger at a part of the Margent,
near which there was the part of a
very little Speck, that might almoffc
be covered with the point of a Pin;
file not only readily enough found
it out, but Hie wed me atfbme di-
fiance off another Speck, that was
yet more Minute, and required a
fliarp Sight to Difcern it. And yet,
whereas this was done about Noon,
fhe told me, that fhe could .fee
much better in the Evening, than

x in

( ll>6)

in any Lighter time

of the day.

W hi!e fhe was looking upon the
Printed Paper I fhew’d her, I ask’d
her whether It did not appear
White to her, and the Letters Black?
i o which fhe antwer’d’ that they
did fo ; but that file faw as it
were a W hite Glafs laid over both
theObje&s. But the things that
were moftparticular and odd. in this
womans cafe, were thefe two.
The firft is, that fhe is not unfre-
quently troubled with flafhes of
Lightning, that feem to iifue out like
Flames about the External Angle
of her Eye, which often make her
ftarf, and put her into Frights and
Melancholy Thoughts. But the
other, which is more Strange and
Singular, is this, that fhe can diftin-
guifh lome Colours, as Black and
White, but is not able to diftin-
guifh others, elpecially Red and
Green : And when I brought her a
Bag of a fine and gloffie Red, with
Tufts of Sky-colour’d Silk; file
/ look’d

-*■- i-*»

( 257 )

lock’d attentively upon it, but told
me, that to her it did not feem Red,
but of another Colour, which one
would guefs by her Defcription to
be a Dark or Dirty one : and the
Tufts of Silk that were finely Co¬
lour’d, fhe took in her Hand, and
told me they leem’d to be a Light-
colour, but could not tell me which;
only file compar’d it to the Colour
of the Silken Stuff of the Lac’d Peti-
coat of a Lady that brought her to
me ; and indeed the Blews were ve¬
ry much alike. And when I ask’d
her, whether in the Evenings,
when fhe went abroad to walk in
the Fields, which fhe much deligh¬
ted to do, the Meadows did not
appear to her Cloathed in Green ?
fhe told me they did not, but feem’d
to be of an odd Darkifh Colour ;
and added, that when fire had a
mind to gather Violets, tho’ fhe
kneel’din that Place where they
grew, fhe u;as not able to diftin-
guifii them by the Colour from the

neighbouring Grabs, but only by

the

( 2 68)

®he Shape, or by feeling them. And
the Lady that was with her, took
thence occafion to tell me, that when
ihe looks upon a Turky Carpet,
Hie cannot diftinguifh the Colours,
unlefsof thofe parts that are White
or Blade. I ask’d the Lady whe¬
ther ihe were not troubled with
Female Obftru&ions? To which file
Anfwer’d me, file was not now, •
but that Formerly fhe had been'
much fubje£t to them, having been
obftinately troubled with the Greem
ficknefs. . V.

OBSERY. XI L

Shall add on this Occafion fom-

thiog, that, tho’ not fo odd as

It, has yet an Affinity with the
newly recited Cafe, and fo may
make it the more Credible. And it
is, That I lately convers’d with a Ma¬
thematician, Eminentfor his skill in
Opticfcs, and therefore a very com¬
petent Relator of Phenomena be¬
longing to that Science ? whofe Or¬

gan

jets

( 2 ^9

gans of Vifion are fo conftituied,,
that, the? in his Eyes I could difeero
nothing Amils, and the? he makes
much and excellent me of them in
Agronomical Obfervations.and Op¬
tical Experiments ; yet he confei-
fes tome, that there are feme Co¬
lours that heconftantly fees Amifs,
and particularly Inftanc’d in one,
which in a clear day, ( for io it was
when weDifcours’d togetheroftfais
Matter)feem’d tohini tobethe fame
with that of a darkifh fortof Cloath
that he then wore, whii’ft to Me
and Other Men, it appear’d of a
quite differing Colour.

OBSER.V. ■ XIII.

ir -'"T 7 £ •- ■ .fr - • "

Ifcourfing with a Lady, who
had been very long troubled
with a very Unufual Indifpofition
in her Head, and, tho’ She looks
well, is never without Pain in it ;
tho' looking into her Eyes, I per¬
ceived nothing Amifs, yet conjectu¬
ring that fo Obftiaate a Diftemper
/ muft

’ ; !■ I

r

I

;

V V w )

mud have had fome Unufual Influ~
ence upon her Sight ; I learn’d by
Inquiry that after theVioient Fits of ^
Pain and Diforder fhe had from
time to time in her Head, if Hie
did butcaft her Eyes, or turn them
fuddenly ,from one fide to the other,
there would prefently enfue a Con¬
volve Motion in One of them,
wherebyit would notonly bedrawn
away, but, which was very ftrange,
All White Things, and mod other
Objects, that file look’d on with
that Eye, appear’d Green to her :
And yet this was not a Tranfient
Dilcompofure that would go quick¬
ly off, but would Molefi: her
for a good while, and frequently
Return'd upon her for a whole year;
lb that fhe difpaired of Recovering
the ufe of that Eye, wherewith
yet fhe now fees very well, tho’
her Cephahck Diftempers were
rather Mitagated than quite Cur’d.
And when I ask'd her, whether,
vvhileft the Convuifion of her Eye
Jafted, file did not fee Obje&s Dou -

»■

(27 1 )

ble ? She anfwer’d, that while ft
that Diftemper was upon her, if
file went to Read in a Book, the
Letters were io apt to appear Dou¬
ble, that when fhe was bent upon
Reading, fhe was fain to fhut the
Diftemper’d Eye, and Imploy only
the Other.

I r r \ 9< ' *

. ■ 1 v V . * '* . —i jc *

O B S E R V. XIV.

Ome may think that a Man has
rather an Excellent, than a Viti-
Sight, who can See O&jects
with a far lefs degree of Light than
other Men have need of to Difcem
them. But tho’ an Extraordinary
Tendernefs may be a kind of Per¬
fection in the Eyes of Bats and Owls,
whole ufiral Food may be more ea-
fily Purchaled by Twilight: Yet
as to Man, the main part of whole
Aftions is to be perform’d by
the Light of the Day, or fome
other almoft Equivalent ; it may
Argue the provident goodnefs of the
Author of Nature, to have given
Him Eyes Conftituted as thofe of
¥% •> Men

t k.. -

| jft, j|

272

Men generally are : Since, That a

very great Tendernefs of theRetina,
or principal part of the Organ of
Sight, would be, if not an Imper¬
fection, at leaf!: a great Inconve¬
nience, may appear by the Memo¬
rable Story I am going to Relate.

In the Army of the late King
of Hapy Memory, (Charles the
Find ) there was a Gentleman
of great Courage and good Parts,
that was Major to one of the
Regiments ; who being after¬
wards by the prevailing Ufurpers
forc'd to feek his Fortune abroad,
venture! to do his King a piece of
Service at Madrid, which was of an
Extraordinary Nature and Conle-
quence, and there judg'd very Ir¬
regular. Upon this he was com¬
mitted to an Uncommon Prifon,
which, tho’ otherwile Tolerable e-
tiough, had no Window at all be^
longing to it, but a Hole in the
thicknefs of the Wall, at which
the Keener once or twice a day put

(273 )

in liberal provifion of Victuals and
Wine, and prelently Clos’d the
Window , if it may be lo call’d,
on the Out- fide, but not perhaps
very Solicitoufly. For fome Weeks
this poor Gentleman continu’d in
the Dark, very Difconfolate. But
afterwards he began to think lie
law fome little Glimering of Light,
which from time to time Increased;
inlomucb, that he could not only
Difcover the Parts of his Bed,
and other fuch large Obje0;s, but
at length came to Difcover things
fo Minute, that he could Perceive
the Mice that frequented his Cham¬
ber, to. eat the Crumbs of Bread
that fell upon the. Ground, and
Dilcern their Motions very well.
Several other Effe&s of his Sight
in that Dark Place He Related. And
that which Confirms that this Pro-
! ceeded mainly from the great Ten-
j dernefs the Vifive Organ had acqui¬
red, by fo long a flay in fo Obfcure
a Place, was, that when after fome
Months, the Face of Affairs Abroad

0 4. - * "

HT* 1 1

( "74 ) ' 1

being fomwhat Chang’d, His Lb
berty was reftor’d him, he durft
not leave his Prifon Abruptly, for
fear of lofing his Sight by the E>az-
ling Light of the Day; and there- j
fore was fain to Accuftom his Eyes
by flow degrees to the Light. This
Strange, as well as once Famous
Story,! the lels Scruple to let down
in this Place, becaufe I had the
Curioflty to learn it from the Gent-
tleman’s own Mouth, who acquain¬
ted me with other Particulars about
it, that, for want of the Notes I
then took, I fhall not now venture
tofpeakof.

FINIS.

(

\

* * ' A

\ ~y # ' • * 1

I

y

ERRATA.-

.

Phge$. line 4. read Benefit , 1. 14. r.

hominis , p. 14. 1. 1 8. r. Corporeal. /
fay not this , p- itf. 1.20.r. £)/<?, p.21. 1.20.
r.yw Object, p.26.l.2.r.ew eg are, p.42.
1. 5. r. ovsprtdtf, p. 46. I. 24. r. fortuitous ,
p. 48. 1'25. r. tfrf? brought , p. 50. 1. 1 . r.<£-
/***, I.5. r. any notice , p. 53 , J.23 . r.Cor-
p.58. ].2o. r4 notably , p.59.1. 20. r.
Pofiure , p.di. 1. to. r .Cameleon, I.25.
r.Jlorv , p. 68.1. 17. r.z> nw, p.79,1. i.r.rf
was not p. 7 9. 1. 17. r. n^v7'/n, p»po. 1.
27. r. to be done, p. 89. dele (5) p.105.
li^r.forr, p.106. 1.2. r. Qytcftion -7 a-
bout which, p. 129. I.27. r .live, p.139.
I.i4#dele & p.143 J.23 .r .Chance.

The0 p. 1 5 1 J. r . r. F unit ions, p. 1 72. L 1 4 .
r. froduF p. 177. 1.5, r. Infer tour , 1. 9.
r. fever af p. 198. r. teres7 p.199. 1. 14.
r. craffioris.

A Catalogue of Books , Printed for
and Sold by John Taylor at the
Ship in St. Paul’.? Church-Yard.

T , - ■ • ' ' * -* ,*•>'

' ' V t • ;• i l V

i . r | IHe Travels of Mon fie ur de Theve~
1 not into the Levant ; in Three
Parts , I. Into Turhie, II. Perfia ?

III. The Baft-Indies ^ New done out of
French , in Folio.

2. A Free Enquiry into the Vulgarly
Receiv'd Notion of Nature ; made in an
Eflay, Addrefs’d to a Friend. By the
Honourable‘jfr^f Foyh-> Elq; Fellow of
the Royal Society. The fame is alfo
in Latin, for the Benefit of Foreigners.

•* <

3 .The Martyrdom of Theodora and of
Didymus . By a Perfon of Honour.

4. The Declamations of Quintilian ,
being an Exercitation or Praxis upon
his Twelve Books, concerning the In-
ftitution of an Orator. Tranflated
(from the Oxford Theatre Edition) into

A Catalogue of Books , &c.

English , by a Learned and Ingenious
Hand, with the Approbation of feveral
Eminent School-Matters in the City of
London,

5. England's Hof pine fs , in a Lineal
Succeffion, and the Deplorable Miferies
which ever attended Doubtful Titles to
the Crown *, Hiftorically demonftrated
from the Wars between the TwoHou-
fes of Tork and Lancafter .

6. Academia Scientiarum : Or , The
Academy of Sciences. Being a Short
and Eafie Introduction to the Know¬
ledge of the Liberal Arts and Sciences ?
with the Names of thofe Famous Au¬
thors that have written on every parti¬
cular Science. In Latin and

By D. Abcr crumby y M. D.

7. Publick Devotion, and the Com¬
mon-Service of the Church of England
jollified and Recommended to ail Honeft
and Weil-meanuig(bowever Prejudic’d)
Didenters. By a Lover of his Country,
and the Proteftant Religion.

3. The Belt Exercife. To which is
added, a Letter to a Perfon of Quality,
concerning the Holy Lives of the Pri¬
mitive

‘A Catalogue of Books,

mitive Chriftians. By Anthony Horned

Preacher at the Savoy.

* , •

9. The Mother’s Bleffing : Or, The
Godly Counfel of a Gentlewoman not
long fince Deceas’d, left behind for her
Children. By Mrs. Dorothy Leigh .

10. Thelnchanted Lover: Or, The
Amours of Narciftis and Aurelia . A
Novel. By Peter Bellon , Author of the
Pilgrim.

1 1. Reafons why a Proteffant fhoufd
not Turn Papift, in a Letter to a Romm
Prieft.

12. Curious Enquiries, being Six
brief Difcourfes, viz.. I. Of the Longi¬
tude. II. The Tricks of Aftrological
Quacks. III. Of the Depth of the Sea.
IV. Of Tobacco. V. Of Europe* being
too full of People. VI. The Various
Opinions concerning the Time of Keep*
ing the Sabbath.

13. The Works of Dr Thomas Com*
her, in Four Parts, Folio .

14.. Weekly Memorials for the Inge¬
nious } or an Account of Books lately

fet

A Catalogue of Books , &c«

fet forth in feveral Languages , with
other Accounts relating to Arts and
Sciences.

15. Legrand's Hiftoria Sacra*

,r *x • * \

16. Poetical Hiftories. By Gdtrn-
chins*

if London Difpenfatory. By Ni¬
cholas Culpeper .

1 8. Father Simon's Critical Hiltory of
the Eafisrn Nations.

19. L — —Hiftory of the Progrefs of
Ecclefiaftical Revenues.

. 20. The Several Ways of Refolving
Faith by the Con trover tills of the
Churh of England and the Church of
Rome.

< /Jr -iCT*

‘t* ' SOM*